Trading Letters for Desire
by Dee31
Summary: Co-Written with cj10824. Gabriella isn't the typical sorority girl while Troy is everything a fraternity president should be. One morning marks a change in both of their Greek lives. In the end, what will they choose - their letters or desire?
1. Chapter 1

**Co-Written with cj10824**

_Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney!_

Chapter 1

She stayed in her room, locked away, fighting to block out all the noise that was happening around her single room. As hard as she tried though, she still heard the screams, the yelling, the drunken stumbles. It was 3 AM on a Thursday night and Gabriella Montez was trapped in her room as yet another outrageous sorority party continued just outside her door and around the entire sorority house. She rolled her eyes as she heard some heavy panting right outside her door before she heard a door slam down the hall. 'Typical, what is that, the eighteenth drunken hookup I've heard up here tonight?'

It wasn't that Gabriella was depressed or even antisocial but this scene was definitely not hers. In fact, the only reason why she was part of this sorority, Kappa Phi Sigma, was because of her mother, an alumnus, who spoke nothing but of her beloved sorority when it came to where Gabriella would attend college. Gabriella being a legacy was the one thing that even got Gabriella to attend rush week in the fall of freshman year and, she was pretty sure, was the sole reason why she was chosen out of so many other girls to join this sisterhood. Unlike her high school best friend, Taylor McKessie, who was also part of the sorority, Gabriella tended to keep to herself at these parties, not liking the atmosphere and the vibe she got. When she had attended her first two in freshman year, one while rushing and the other right after she was initiated, Gabriella had a horrible time, got puked on the second and last time while being clearly ignored the first. Taylor though, she still attended out of curiosity and tended to be a bit more free with the opposite sex than Gabriella ever imagined herself to be.

Gabriella sighed as she heard yet another muffled conversation before another slam of a door down the hall was heard through her closed and locked door. She got up from her bed and sat down in front of her laptop, determined to block out the outside noise. As she moved to her desk though, Gabriella caught sight of herself in her full length mirror on the back of her door and winced as she saw dark circles under her dull brown eyes, her dark brown hair laying flat around her shoulders despite the few waves present, and dressed sloppily in a t-shirt and sweats.

'Well, what do you expect, a beauty queen? You have been up studying late already and it's only the second week of school. Not being able to sleep tonight isn't helping either,' she thought to herself as she signed onto her email. Knowing that her good friend Kelsi Nielson, who she had met in one of her advanced classes freshman year and instantly clicked with, would be asleep across campus at a regular dorm room for juniors and seniors, Gabriella typed up a quick message to her, complaining of the party, like always, before she dutifully wrote to her parents back in New Mexico.

Gabriella's family was considered middle class, well off enough to send Gabriella to college but only because both of Gabriella's older sisters, twenty-six year old Samantha and twenty-five year old Daniella, never graduated college or even attended in the case of Daniella, who had barely graduated high school. Samantha was one of the brightest in her class in high school but she got led astray when she went away to college in New York, falling for a guy who managed to get Samantha hooked on drugs and alcohol, losing along the way to focus or even care about her college studies. It took both of Gabriella's parents, Theresa and Joseph, Daniella, and Gabriella taking a trip out to Samantha's college campus to make Samantha realize how out of control her life had gotten. After several months in rehab, Samantha emerged clean and with a better perspective on life, wanting to not go back to college but explore the world with a guy she met there, her current boyfriend Thomas, and was currently somewhere in South America.

Daniella, on the other hand, had simply not clicked with school, starting in junior high when she realized having the same teachers as Samantha did only made the teachers that much harder on her since her older sister did so well. In an effort to escape the pressure, Daniella turned her attention instead to being the popular girl, knowing full well that she would never be known as the smart Montez girl. This of course meant that Daniella was by far the most stylish of the three sisters, but it also meant that Daniella used any way she could get to gain that status of being Queen Bee at West High. She gained the most popularity tag to her name when she dated the quarterback of the winning Knights team their junior year, only to catch him cheating on her the night of their junior prom, sending Daniella into a downward spiral from which she eventually emerged but only after abandoning even more desire to be in school. Now, Daniella lived with Theresa and Joseph, managing a favorite coffee house in Albuquerque where Gabriella herself worked for a few summers.

After seeing everything that her two older sisters had gone through, Gabriella's interest in the male species, which already was minimal at best even after her tween years, soured that much more. To her, guys in general were great as friends, fathers, and relatives but anything more was out of the question. Gabriella felt she owed it to her parents to finish and graduate college at the top of the class and really make something of herself, living out the dream she knew they secretly harbored still for all three of their daughters.

'And that is the source as to why I've pushed myself so hard that I'm graduating a year early, doing a typical four year program in three while double majoring,' thought Gabriella, catching herself looking at a family portrait in a frame next to her laptop as the door handle to her room rattled rather loudly. Gabriella rolled her eyes and shouted, "Occupied, go swap body fluids somewhere else!"

There was a loud thump against her door and a moan of pleasure floated right under the door, causing Gabriella to roll her eyes yet again as she imagined said couple who wanted her room now pressing their sweaty, scantily clad bodies together, using her door as a nice substitute for a bed or a table. 'Note to self, make sure to bleach the door in the morning.'

Gabriella grabbed the ear buds that were sitting on her desk attached to her Ipod Touch and selected classical music to play as she stuck the ear buds in her ears, drowning out all the panting, screaming, laughing, and chatting going on through every other room of the sorority house she lived in except hers. Instead of partying like any other Greek member on Greek Row that night, Gabriella focused on her own little world, adding yet another entry into her journal that documented every single day of her life while she closed herself off to the more normal life a college student led that was happening only yards away from where she sat at her desk.

* * *

Troy Bolton groaned out of frustration as the door to what he thought was Nicole Dashwood's single room, the largest in the Kappa Phi Sigma house as she was the president of the chapter, refused to open. Instead, he pushed her body harder against the door, moaning with Nicole as he nipped at her naked left shoulder while Nicole adventurously cupped him in her hand. "Damn baby, you're going to drive me fucking nuts. Why did you lock the door?"

Nicole pulled away, flinging some of her light brown hair back over her shoulder, giving Troy a confused look before she looked over her shoulder and realized it wasn't her bedroom door. She rolled her eyes as she looked back at him, giggling at his own puzzled look at her merriment. "This isn't my room silly. It's the one at the end of the hall," she explained. "This room actually belongs to the resident prude and smartie pants, Gabriella Montez. God, I rue the day I actually encouraged her to pledge because she was a legacy. Little did I know what I was helping invite into this chapter."

"Ah, the invisible sister of the Kappa Phi Sigma sorority. Interesting. Should we fuck against her door to show her what she's missing babe?" asked Troy, not caring where he was at the moment, just needing to be inside the girl in his arms.

She gave him a seductive smile, a reward for his suggestion that was fairly close to her own but shook her head. "I would but then it would be outright unsisterly conduct and I know Gabriella would bitch for sure. I've got another idea though to make her less invisible and I'll need your help but later. Right now, stud, I want you and this amazing body of yours in my room, the right one this time, so I can have my wicked way with you."

A low growl erupted from Troy's throat, causing Nicole to giggle even more as he tightened his hold around her body, relishing the feel of her ass in one of his palms as Troy carried Nicole down to her room, promptly slamming the door behind him, finding the release and pleasure he had been aching for ever since he laid eyes on Nicole in the silly mini skirt and low cut tank top she passed off as clothing for the party that night.

* * *

Feeling the warmth of the unwanted sun shine on his face, Troy flipped from laying on his back to lying on his stomach, slapping a free pillow over his head as a massive headache began to throb, a not so nice reminder of how much alcohol Troy had consumed last night with his friends, who were also brothers of the same fraternity, Zeta Theta Mu. Chad Danforth, Jason Cross, and Zeke Baylor were Troy's best buddies and teammates on the basketball team both here at college and back home at East High in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since they were so close, none of the four could deal with parting from each other so they decided to go to college away from New Mexico and stay together at a college they all managed to get into. Now, in their senior year of college, they were faced with the same dilemma as to what to do with the rest of their lives but right now, all Troy cared about, was getting rid of the pounding some god or something was doing on his brain.

After trying to sleep it off but never quite getting to the sleep part, Troy gave up and uncovered his head, looking around the room and realizing he was actually in a room that wasn't his own, recalling slowly the several rounds of rough sex he and Nicole had just a few hours ago in what appeared to be her room. 'God, I have to tell Chad we can't pre-party as hard as we used to before going to these things. I end up being so wasted by the time we get here that my drinking more with the girls only gets my mind even fuzzier, making it hard to remember chunks of the night like how I managed to score with Nicole again, second party in a row. Must make mental note to stay away for the next few days or she's going to want more from me,' he thought as he swung his legs around so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his blue eyes scanning the floor for his boxers.

Once Troy had on his boxers and his pants, he stumbled out of Nicole's room, blinking several times against the brightness in the rest of the house, ignoring the sounds of a cleaning crew coming from down the stairs. After a few different attempts of opening doors but finding a closet and more rooms with couples sleeping together and even a room with several people in various state of undress, Jason being one of them, Troy finally found the bathroom and quickly relieved himself before flushing. He then splashed cold water on his face, managing to find humor in some of the frilly pink decorations that Troy vaguely recalled as most likely belonging to the diva of the Kappa Phi Sigma sorority, Sharpay Evans. Feeling no regret for rummaging, Troy opened the medicine cabinet and quickly located the pain relief pills he was seeking, putting some in his hands before swallowing them with some water, closing his eyes tight, willing the pain to go away.

Splashing more water on his face seemed to eventually help, waking Troy up a little bit more, at least enough for him to understand what was going on around him. When he left the bathroom though, Troy realized he was lost again, despite how many times he had spent the night partying or staying over with various girls of this sorority. 'Then again, you've done the same at other sororities on Greek Row,' Troy reminded himself with a smirk at the memories of his conquests. He slowly padded down the hall after deciding on a direction, passing all the closed doors, remembering only that he left the door open. Seeing the first one open, Troy walked right in but realized immediately it wasn't the same, especially as Nicole wasn't spread out across the bed. Instead, Troy saw a smaller but still spacious room with a twin bed pushed up against the opposite wall where the window was, the purple sheets and quilt made perfectly.

As Troy scanned the room more, he realized he had never seen this room, which wasn't a surprise since school had just started a few weeks ago, but Troy felt like he hadn't ever seen the occupant either, looking closer at some of the pictures on the desk and on the walls, recognizing some of the girls like Sharpay and Taylor but not recalling the dark brunette beauty that was consistently in most of them. "How in the world could I have missed her? She's hot!" he wondered aloud, jumping as he heard a purposeful cough behind him.

"You missed her because she didn't want you to see her. Now please, get out of my room," stated Gabriella, her arms folded and giving him an annoyed look.

"What's the rush babe? The door was open, you must have wanted someone to come in," returned Troy, smirking at her as he allowed his blue eyes to take in all of her curves that were evident by the shorts and tank top that hugged her body, accompanied by some white socks and tennis shoes. Troy's eyes traced each curve of her toned legs and finally made their way back up to the girl's face only to see her even more annoyed. "I've got my morning free. Want to show me some Kappa Phi Sigma hospitality?"

Gabriella let out a huge groan, outraged already that Troy Bolton, the president of Zeta Theta Mu, was standing in her room uninvited and looking rather comfortable, feeling even more pissed off that he would even suggest such a thing to her. "I'm sorry, I thought you being here so early after partying your ass off with your buddies was a sign that you already got what you came here for last night or this morning. I don't do sloppy seconds or your species, sorry. Now get out Bolton!"

Troy straightened a little as he heard his last name being spoken by her soft looking lips. "Now, don't you think this is a bit unfair? I don't even know who you are but you seem to know me. Come on angel, tell me your name," he coaxed, walking quickly over to where she was standing on the other side of the room. Troy reached out a hand to cup her cheek, surprised when she chose to jerk her face away from his reach, rewarding him instead with a glare, her brown eyes emitting nothing but fiery sparks that should have warned Troy to stay away.

"Fuck you," answered Gabriella, having no interest in playing his games.

"Interesting first and last name. Bet your parents really thought that one over," replied Troy, sarcasm dripping from his words. "Angel, how am I supposed to woo you if I don't know your name?"

"Exactly the point, I don't want you or your attention. Why don't you just get your ass out of this room and go find whoever you fucked last night to have your way with her again?" suggested Gabriella.

For being hung over, Troy found his body moved rather quickly, backing her up against the wall and placing each hand on the wall besides her head, his face inches from hers. "But I want to fuck you. I like new, unknown things. You can't deprive me of knowing your name let alone your body, can you?"

Within a flash, Gabriella's palm felt the stubble on his face as she slapped him and slapped him hard, whipping his face to the right from the force. "Bastard! Get the hell out of my room now before I throw you out."

Troy let out a low chuckle, letting her know the slap didn't even faze him, his blue eyes darkening as they bore into hers. "I'd like to see you try," he murmured, lowering his head so his lips danced centimeters above hers, kissing the wall as Gabriella managed to duck away from him and under one of his arms so she was now standing behind him. "Ah, playing hard to get huh?"

Gabriella shook her head as he turned around, cursing herself for leaving her door open without a thought when she had first come back from her run, having run downstairs for a few moments to drink some cold water before returning. For the first time in a long time though Gabriella was actually relieved when Nicole popped into the room, looking suspiciously between Troy and Gabriella.

"Troy, what are you doing in this nerd's room? I told you last night she's the invisible one. We need to get out of here before Gabriella infects you with her unpopularness and squarish way of living," stated Nicole, wrapping an arm around Troy's waist while using her other hand to keep the sheet wrapped around her body.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, not even blinking at Nicole's words, knowing that Nicole had called Gabriella much worse in the past two years. "Please, take him away Nicole. Seems like he got a tad lost on the way back to your lair I guess."

'Or not,' thought Troy as he smirked yet again, realizing he now knew the beauty's name. As he allowed Nicole to lead him out of the room, Troy looked back once again and grinned at Gabriella, his confidence radiating from him more than ever. "Good morning Gabriella. I'm sure I'll see you around even more now."

Gabriella didn't even bother dignifying him with an answer, instead watching as both Nicole and Troy disappeared from view before quickly closing the door and locking it, having no interest in allowing Troy Bolton back into her room ever, instead having many other things to worry about like making her early lunch date with Kelsi in just thirty-five minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The sounds of one of the latest radio hits woke Gabriella up early Monday morning. Rolling over, she blindly reached her hand out, shutting off the alarm. Reluctantly, she sat up and grabbed her towel and clothes before making her way into the bathroom.

Thirty minutes later, Gabriella pushed open the door to her Advanced Entrepreneurship class, her dark blue backpack slung over one shoulder, a half of a bagel in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other. Scanning over the students present, Gabriella spotted the person she was looking for and grinned before making her way over to where he was sitting.

"9:00 AM class on a Monday morning. Remind me again why we signed up for this," said Zeke while Gabriella rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Because it's a requirement for our major and our professors hate us and decided to make this the only available time we could take this class," returned Gabriella.

Zeke chuckled watching the last few students trickle in behind the professor. "You still up for grabbing lunch at 11:30 in the cafeteria?"

Gabriella nodded in response as the professor begun the class.

"Good morning. I hope you all had a restful weekend. Before we get started with the lecture today, I'd like to discuss the group assignment that you will be working on throughout the semester." The professor took some papers off his desk, handing them out to the people in the first row, who began to take one and pass the rest back. "The final presentations will begin during the third to the la-,"

The door slowly creaked open and all the eyes in the room shifted towards the door. Gabriella couldn't help but roll her eyes, seeing Troy walk through the door, obviously apathetic to the fact that he was late and interrupting the class.

"Mr. Bolton, my class starts at 9:00 AM, not 9:02 AM," the professor said looking at his watch. "I would appreciate it if you didn't interrupt my class next time. Please take a seat."

Troy gave a cocky wave to the professor before taking a seat in the second row. Gabriella rolled her eyes seeing Troy busy staring at the red-headed girl to his left, effectively ignoring the piece of paper another student kindly placed on his desk.

"As I was saying before," the professor continued. "There will be two weeks of presentations beginning the third to the last week of the semester. Throughout the semester you will have assignments due related to this project, including one due next class period. In the next few minutes we will split the class into your groups."

Everyone in the class began to look around, picking out their friends to join their group, some students even scooting their desks closer to form a group.

"Hold it!" the professor called out, the room quieting quickly. "_I_ am assigning your groups."

Ignoring the frustrated groans heard throughout the room, the professor pulled a bowl out from under the desk filled with tiny strips of paper.

"I will be randomly drawing your names and placing you into groups of three. There will be _no_ switching of groups. I don't care about your personal drama. When you get a job, you will not be able to choose your co-workers. Consider this preparation for that," stated the professor, his face telling his students silently not to even bother trying to change his mind on this.

The professor reached into the bowl, pulling out three strips of paper in succession and writing them down in his notebook before reading them aloud. "Jessica Alonzo, Joshua McMillan, and Brandon Michaels."

Gabriella began to read over the details of the assignment while faintly listening to the names being called out.

"Troy Bolton."

'Sucks to be the poor people stuck in his group,' Gabriella thought wryly.

"Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella felt her jaw drop in disbelief, not even realizing she had dropped her pencil until it noisily landed on the wood floor and began rolling forward. She watched as it stopped a few feet in front of her. Without making much noise, she went to reach for her pencil, only to find it being held out in front of her.

"Here you go _Gabriella,_" said Troy, emphasizing her name, a smirk painted on his face. Gabriella angrily went to grab the pencil, only to have Troy pull it out of her reach, his smirk growing. "Or should I say group partner?"

Gabriella snatched her pencil back before sitting back up in her chair. 'Ugh. I hate my life.' Placing her pencil back down, she looked up at the professor, seeing Troy taunt her with a wink out of the corner of her eye.

"Zeke Baylor," the professor called out, announcing their third group member.

Gabriella suddenly felt a huge wave of relief hit her. Forgetting about her annoyance with Troy, she turned and grinned at Zeke.

Troy watched as Gabriella and Zeke exchanged excited expressions, leaving him wondering what exactly was going on between them for it was more than apparent than they knew each other very well.

Minutes later, after the professor finished assigning the groups, he dove right into his lecture. An hour and a half later, the clock read 10:45, signaling the end of class.

"Don't forget, by next class period, I want a one page paper on your chosen topic for this assignment. Being this is a group project, _everyone_ must participate in this paper. See you all on Wednesday morning," he concluded, closing his briefcase and heading out the side door of the classroom.

"Meet you inside the cafeteria at 11:30?" Zeke asked as Gabriella nodded before she grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, heading out the door.

After dropping her things off in her room, Gabriella made her way over to the cafeteria. Stepping inside, she could smell the variety of foods being cooked, the smell of hamburgers grilling being the strongest scent.

With a tray in hand, she made her way over to the sandwich bar, quickly ordering a turkey sandwich and grabbing a bag of chips and a cup of water, before paying for her food. Scanning the hundreds of students seated at the tables throughout the cafeteria, Gabriella spotted Zeke sitting at a long table in front of the big screen TV.

"Should have known you'd sit over here," Gabriella commented, setting her tray down and taking a seat across from him.

"Guess I'm too predictable," Zeke shrugged, grinning at her. "Can't miss out on what's going on in the world of sports."

"Heaven forbid," Gabriella giggled, while popping open her bag of chips.

Zeke laughed, reaching over and taking a chip from her bag.

"Hey!" Gabriella cried out in mock offense, slapping at his hand and snatching her chips, hiding them under the table. "Eat your own food!"

"I am," Zeke smirked, taking a bite of his cheeseburger. "Just felt like some chips."

"You never cease to amaze me. You have a cheeseburger, a cup of fries, a salad, a bowl of pasta, four cookies, a glass of milk, a glass of Gatorade, and a glass of water. And you _still_ want my chips!" Gabriella shook her head, placing the bag of chips back on her tray.

"Yep!" Zeke smiled, taking a chip once again.

"How you eat this much and still don't gain any weight, I'll never know. Where does it all go?" she asked.

"My big toe," Zeke said with a serious tone as he struggled to keep a straight face.

"Well I knew it went somewhere," Gabriella giggled, shaking her head in amusement. "One day, after basketball is all over with, you and your chubby self will be sitting around in your recliner, watching sports, while munching on some carrot sticks your wife will give you, reminiscing of the days you could actually eat junk food and not put on a pound."

"You keep thinking that," Zeke laughed.

Gabriella saw a tray full of food being slid on the table towards the seat next to her. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite group members in the world."

Gabriella did her best to keep from yelling out in frustration seeing one side of Troy's mouth tug up into a smirk while he pulled out the chair next to her, taking a seat.

"Hey Zeke," Troy greeted, pounding fists with his teammate and fraternity brother across the table before turning to face the angry girl on his left. "Gabriella," he said with a wink.

Gabriella rolled her eyes, pushing her tray away from her that carried her half-eaten sandwich and bag of chips. "I think I've lost my appetite."

"In that case…" Zeke's eyes lit up as he quickly reached over and claimed her bag of chips. "Sure you don't want your other half of the sandwich?" Zeke mumbled, his mouth full.

"No thanks, you can have that too," Gabriella grinned, seeing her friend smile widely and pile her half of sandwich on top of his plate.

"Come on now, angel," Troy said softly, scooting his chair closer and placing his arm on the back of her chair. "You're not gonna let me eat alone are you?"

Gabriella huffed in annoyance, scooting her chair back roughly, causing Troy's arm to drop back to his side. "I'm gonna take off. I'll see you later Zeke." Gabriella gave a small wave, before sliding her tray back towards her.

"Wait Gabs," Zeke called out, swallowing quickly. "When are we meeting up?"

Troy spun around in his seat, his eyes shining. "Yeah _Gabs_, group project remember?"

"First of all, _don't_ call me Gabs. Only my friends can call me that." Gabriella glared at him, but Troy continued to grin at her, clearly enjoying her annoyance with him. Looking back at Zeke, she continued. "How's tomorrow night work for you around 7:00?"

"Not gonna work angel. We have basketball tomorrow night from 7:00-9:00," stated Troy with a smug look on his face, knowing she would hate a late night with him, even if it was studying.

"He's right Gabs," Zeke spoke up. "Sorry we can't make it then. And I have class till 6:00 tomorrow."

"And I have a sorority meeting tomorrow night. So, I guess it'll have to be tonight. Library at 7:00?" Gabriella offered.

"Works for me," agreed Zeke.

"7:00?" Troy asked.

"Yes. 7:00. In the library. You know where that is? That four storied brick building about 300 yards from the main quad?" Gabriella answered sarcastically.

"Of course! Nicole and I were in there just last week," he replied, raising his eyebrows at her.

"You're unbelievable," Gabriella muttered, picking up her tray. "I'll see you guys tonight at 7:00."

"Sorry, that won't work for me," Troy suddenly said, causing Gabriella to drop the tray back on the table, turning to stare at Troy.

Gabriella narrowed her eyes on the smirking fraternity president. "Why not?"

"I have a date," Troy said simply, loving how much he was getting to Gabriella.

"What time's your date?" Zeke questioned.

"I'm picking her up at 6:00 for din-," Troy started.

"So we'll meet at 8:00," Gabriella interrupted, not wanting to hear the details that were bound to come out otherwise.

"Sorry angel, we won't be done by then," Troy commented, popping a french fry in his mouth.

Gabriella sighed, clearly frustrated. "Then what time will you be done?"

"Who's to say?" Troy shrugged, smiling up at her, an arrogant look adorning his face.

"Listen, you may only care about how many times you can get laid this semester but I actually care about my grades. Unfortunately, we're a group, meaning you have to contribute to this assignment. So we're meeting at 8:00, in the library, in one of the second floor study rooms. I'll reserve it under Gabriella, Zeke, and CP for Campus Player. Don't be late." Not giving Troy a chance to say anything more, Gabriella picked up her tray once again. "I'll see you later Zeke," she said, making her way out of the cafeteria and back to her room.

* * *

Gabriella leaned back in her desk chair, and peered over at her clock next to her bed. Seeing it was 7:45, she closed her textbook for her Advanced Sports Marketing class and grabbed her textbook for the Advanced Entrepreneurship class along with her notebook before placing the items in her bag and heading out the door.

Ten minutes later she made her way into the study room she had reserved for the meeting earlier on in the day, seeing Zeke already sitting at the table looking over the assignment.

"Hey!" she greeted with a small smile.

Zeke looked up, a smile forming on his face. "Hey Gabs!"

"Getting a head start?" she asked.

"Well, I figured since you probably have already read through this, I'd better catch up," Zeke grinned while she took a seat beside him.

"You're right, I did read it," Gabriella giggled. "Only because I was bored out of my mind in class though."

Zeke chuckled. "Well, can I just say that I'm so glad we got put in a group together? I know you're annoyed with Troy, but I'm excited we get to be partners for this semester."

"You can say that," Gabriella smiled. "I'm glad we're in a group together too. Not only because you're my best friend, but also because I think I'd kill myself if it was just me and Troy."

"And I'm excited because now I can be certain I'll get a good grade on this assignment!" teased Zeke, bumping her elbow with his, laughing while she dropped her jaw in mock offense.

"So I take it you're just going to slack this semester and depend on me for everything?" she threw back, trying not to laugh.

"Yep!" Zeke smiled innocently. "It's worked for the past three years of our friendship. Why screw up a good thing, huh?"

Gabriella glanced up at the clock noting the time and quickly becoming annoyed. "Well, Troy is already almost ten minutes late. He's going to screw up both of our grades if he doesn't show up soon."

Zeke sighed, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in a friendly hug. "Don't worry about it Gabs. I won't let him ruin your straight 'A' record, alright?"

"Thanks Zeke," Gabriella grinned up at him.

* * *

Troy suppressed a moan, bringing his hands to rest on Nicole's lower back as she lay on top of him, nipping at his neck. Turning his head to the side, his eyes caught sight of the time. Bringing his hands up to her shoulders, he gently pushed her off of him.

"Troy," she whined, tugging at his shoulder before he could stand up all the way. "What's wrong baby?"

"I have to go," Troy said, scanning the room and finally locating his shoes. "I'm late for a study group."

"Forget studying babe. You know you'll have much more fun here anyways," purred Nicole, licking her lips as she eyed Troy's body once again.

Troy sighed, slipping on his shoes. "I wish I could but this assignment is really important." Troy grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder, reaching for the door handle.

Nicole pushed herself off the bed, making her way towards him. "Call me afterwards? We can continue this then," she hinted, tugging gently on the bottom of his shirt before leaning up and hungrily kissing him once more. "See you later Troy," she winked at him before walking back towards her bed.

Troy swung open the bedroom door and pulled his phone out of his pocket, looking at the time which read 8:05.

"Damn!" yelled Troy, sprinting down the steps, out the front door of the sorority house, and towards the library.

Ten minutes later, Troy walked up to the second floor of the library, scanning around for any signs of where the study room was located. He had barely paused moments before at the front desk to find the room reserved by Gabriella in the reservation book.

"Where the hell is this place?" Troy groaned in frustration, gaining the attention of the librarian at the reference desk on the floor.

"Can I help you young man?" asked the older man, eyeing Troy suspiciously, knowing Troy was not a regular to the library.

"Yeah," Troy breathed a sigh of relief taking a few steps towards him. "Where is the study room on this floor? I think it was 221."

"We have many study rooms in this facility as it is a library but 221 is around the corner, across from the restrooms," stated the librarian, pointing towards the right direction with his hand.

"Thank you," mumbled Troy before sprinting off in the direction indicated.

Troy slowed down his pace as he walked around the corner, taking a deep breath before pushing open the door. To his surprise, he looked up to see Zeke and Gabriella grinning at each other, Zeke's arm wrapped tightly around Gabriella's shoulders.

"About time you showed up. You're only twelve minutes late," Gabriella glared at him as he took a seat in front of her.

"Sorry I got lost," Troy said, placing his notebook on the table.

"Lost huh?" Gabriella asked incredulously, her eyes focused on the dark red mark on the side of his neck. "Yeah because that explains the giant hickey."

"Just because you weren't getting any doesn't mean you have to get angry at me," retorted Troy.

"Well some of us actually care about getting an education at college. Not all of us are spending thousands of dollars to party and sleep around which seems to be your major and minor," bit back Gabriella, already feeling herself at the short end of her patience.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Troy yelled, his eyes turning darker. "I'm here aren't I? I told you I had a date and that I wouldn't be done in time. It's not the easiest thing to push a willing girl off of you so you can go do homework, am I right Zeke?"

Zeke glanced at Gabriella, whose face was turning red in anger, her dark brown eyes glaring at Troy. Taking a deep breath, he placed his arm back around Gabriella's shoulder, gently squeezing her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"Actually man, Gabriella's right. We agreed to meet at 8:00. This is a group project, and this whole semester we are each going to need to compromise to make time to work on this assignment," said Zeke, playing it safe but also trying to keep the peace.

Troy sighed, grabbing a pen from his bag and opening his notebook. "Whatever, let's just get this done."

Gabriella sent a grateful smile to Zeke before opening her own notebook as the three began to discuss what topic they would choose.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After yet another week of intense classes and a few more frustrating meetings with her best friend and the Greek Row player of the year, Gabriella was relieved it was Friday morning, the start of her regular three-day weekends thanks to being ahead of her credits, even being a year ahead of what she was supposed to be at. The Kappa Phi Sigma house was quiet on these mornings as most of the sisters were at classes or dead asleep, most likely hung over or just sleeping in. Not Gabriella though. No, Gabriella was more into making the most of her day, every day, especially when there was peace and quiet.

"Morning Sallie," greeted Gabriella with a smile on her face as she walked into the dining room.

The older woman smiled back at Gabriella. "Your usual breakfast?" asked the house cook who always had a soft spot for the brunette who had just placed her treasured notebook down on the dining room table. "Or can I get you to eat some delicious fresh waffles with crispy bacon? Promise it won't put even a centimeter of fat on your body."

Gabriella laughed at this. "As sweet as that was, you forget who you are talking to. I don't count all those calories and thank you Sallie, that sounds like a lovely breakfast for such a beautiful morning."

There was a snort of laughter from behind Gabriella who knew exactly who it was before Nicole even spoke. "And we can all tell you don't count those calories. Honestly Gabriella, as smart as you are, don't you know that guys aren't attracted to flabby girls who have brains? That's like a double whammy right there. Sarah, low-fat yogurt and pineapple slices please. Don't get the pineapple juice into the yogurt though, okay?"

Sallie just shot Gabriella a look before doing as Nicole asked while Gabriella herself rolled her eyes. "You do know that her name is Sallie right? She's only been serving you food since you started living here freshman year. And as for my looks, what concern is it of yours? If no stupid frat guy is interested in me, that only means more idiots to drool over you now doesn't it?"

"Oh, I could care less, trust me. Besides, it's not like you have any guys lining up to date you anyway. I only take the time to remark because you're a sister and you represent this chapter and sorority. You should take pride in how you look Gabriella, honestly," said Nicole, eyeing Gabriella up and down a few times, scrunching her nose up in disgust as she realized Gabriella was wearing a pair of old looking black sweat pants and a plain green tank top. "How can you honestly wear that outside your room if even then?"

"Perhaps because I'm not on a continuous man or boy hunt like you. I don't need guys lined up outside my bedroom door to feel validated, to feel like a woman, to feel good about myself and I pity the fact that you do," returned Gabriella, ignoring the quiet laughter she heard from behind Nicole, spying her two closest friends in the sorority, Taylor and Sharpay, observing the verbal sparring. "Excuse me, I think my fatty yet delicious food is ready."

Gabriella spun on her feet and walked into the kitchen, smiling at Sallie who had just put the yogurt and pineapple on the counter between the kitchen and dining room for Nicole to get. There was an over exaggerated huff that came from the light brown haired senior before Nicole simply left the dining room all together, allowing Taylor and Sharpay to come in unharmed.

"Quite the fight you gave Gab, gotta say I'm proud. Guess hanging out with me really has done wonders for your spirit after all," teased Sharpay, winking at her best friend who was putting the waffle on a plate herself in the kitchen. "Speaking of yummy food, Sallie can I have one of those too but with whipped cream and strawberries?"

Sallie just nodded her head, briefly laying an affectionate hand on Gabriella's shoulder as Gabriella thanked the cook for what looked to be another great breakfast. Taylor helped herself to some Raisin Bran and milk in a bowl before she sat down across from Gabriella, smiling as Gabriella started writing in her notebook. "Writing some angry poem about the stupidity and superficialness that is our chapter's president?" asked Taylor, knowing by the color of the cover that it was Gabriella's poetry book.

"Nah, why waste my time? How was class this morning?" asked Gabriella, putting her pen aside as she took a bit of the crispy bacon strips on her plate.

"As good as it can be with more than two-thirds of the class hung over from last night's party at Epsilon Nu. I just wish there was a rule where if you were drunk or hung over you couldn't go to class. Either they were snoring in class today or making really sophomoric comments. About drove me nuts," complained Taylor, sighing as she thought of her morning class that seemed like a waste of an hour of her time because the professor had to deal with the antics of her fellow students for most of the two hour long class.

"And that, my dear sisters and best friends, is why I go buzzed," stated Sharpay with a smile, sitting down with her own waffles next to Taylor. "Although going buzzed this morning to design class probably wasn't the smartest idea since we were cutting fabrics today and, well, some of my cutting wasn't so straight."

Taylor and Gabriella both shared a look before laughing together, joined shortly by Sharpay. "So Gab, how has this Advanced Entrepreneurship project been coming along this past week? Bolton still being an ass?"

"That's putting it lightly," murmured Gabriella, sipping some of her tea before taking another bite of her waffle. "Not only was he late to our first meeting, he had the audacity to suggest we write about starting our own call service or strip club. I swear he's just trying to use this class as a way to write a solid business plan for his own whorish reasons, ie his own dream business after graduation. Suits him actually."

Sharpay smirked, knowing how very much Troy was getting under Gabriella's skin, knowing Troy well enough to know that he was increasing it as his enjoyment increased, finding sick pleasure in pissing off Gabriella. "You do know that you are just feeding into what he wants from you right?"

Gabriella gave her friend an incredulous look. "Umm, hello, I am so not sleeping with that guy, ever!"

"Not that silly," replied Sharpay, rolling her eyes. "I was talking about this verbal sparring, hostile environment you two have going between you. Guys like Troy thrive off that stuff, especially if he finds you more attractive all fired up."

"All right, now I know for a fact you're pulling my leg! Troy doesn't find me the least bit attractive," stated Gabriella. "I'm not his type."

"Over easy!" called out Sallie, making all three girls laugh at the incredible timing as Sallie handed one of their sisters her plate of eggs.

"Now that, that was classic," got out Taylor, trying to catch her breath as they continued to laugh. "Seems like you can't get away from him Gabriella. From this project, to being in your sports class with Zeke again, to being at Greek Row events like the BBQ that we're hosting with Zeta Theta Mu this evening. You coming?"

Gabriella sighed, not really wanting to but knowing she had to go or be chastised again by the VP of Sisterhood for not being one with the sorority. 'You would think I'd get used to them after all this time of abstaining from the parties but I think in some ways the rest of the sisters have gotten used to my usual absence from things if they weren't academic or philanthropic related.'

"She's thinking about it, that's a good sign," observed Sharpay, watching as Gabriella debated internally. "Come on Gabriella! Think of it as a challenge. Speaking of, I do have an idea and real challenge for you."

Taylor saw that mischievous glint in Sharpay's light brown eyes and shook her head. "Be afraid Gabriella, be very afraid. This can't be good."

"No, it isn't good," admitted Sharpay. "It's fucking fabulous!"

Gabriella let a groan escape as she sank lower into her chair. "What is it Shar?"

"Since you think you are so unattractive or at least that invisible to Troy and the rest of his frat brothers, I think we should test your theory with a little bit of an experiment, Sharpay Evans style. We can go shopping now and we'll have plenty of time to doll you up just right," exclaimed Sharpay, jumping in her seat with excitement. "This is going to be so great!"

"Whoa, hang on there Ms. Pink and Sparkly! I didn't say yes," protested Gabriella. "This totally would go against everything they think I am. I don't want any of those idiots thinking I've become yet another mindless sorority girl, ready to drool over every flex of their so called muscles."

"Hey!" protested Taylor and Sharpay both, both faking their own offense at her statement, knowing that Gabriella never included them in those type of statements.

"Present company excluded as always, plus some of the other sisters here that deem me worthy to be friends with. It's those others like our dear president who give us such a bad rep, exactly like what I just described," stated Gabriella, rolling her eyes as she heard Nicole's annoying giggle echo down the stairs.

Sharpay laughed at Gabriella's obvious annoyance. "Well, there's even a better reason then, to dress you up and make you every fraternity guy's fantasy. Show them you've got not only brains and spirit but beauty, which they should already see by now, that morphs into pure sexiness at night. Come on Gabriella, please? You haven't allowed me to make you over since high school!"

"And there's a reason for that Sharpay," returned Gabriella, looking into those light brown eyes of Sharpay's that were currently pleading with her. "You had me looking like a complete idiot at your Halloween bash, dressed in that sparkly pink minidress that I still maintain was a tube top."

"Taylor, tell Gabriella she looked hot in it!" demanded Sharpay, huffing a little at the indirect insult. "Montez, I have fabulous fashion sense and you know it!"

"Sharpay, I think what Gabriella is getting at is that she appreciates your efforts but she just doesn't want to look like a darker skinned version of you who pulls off pink so well, right Gab?" interjected Taylor, receiving a grateful look from Gabriella.

"Yeah, that's all I meant Sharpay," confirmed Gabriella, knowing that was mostly the truth anyway.

Sharpay sat, thinking about Taylor's and Gabriella's words, chewing on another piece of her waffle with both a strawberry piece and whipped cream on it. When she was finished, the gleam was back in her light brown eyes as she gazed back at Gabriella. "What if I make a deal with you? No pink, no sparkles. Would you let me dress you up tonight?"

Gabriella almost choked on her own waffle, surprised that Sharpay redesigned her challenge to make it more appealing to Gabriella to agree to. "Does it mean this much to you Sharpay? Like honest to goodness?"

"Definitely. Call up Kelsi and ask her to come to the mall with us. She's coming to the barbeque anyway so she may as well help," added Sharpay, knowing one more person there to support Gabriella would go a long way in her cause.

After a few moments of studying Sharpay and seeing the encouraging look on Taylor's own face, Gabriella sighed, knowing that it was the least she could do for her best friends. "All right, I'm sold. Let me tell Kelsi and we'll head to the mall."

"YEAH!" exclaimed Sharpay, bouncing on her chair and clapping her hands before shoveling the rest of her waffle into her mouth, overly happy about the afternoon and evening ahead.

* * *

Later that day, well closer to evening, Troy, Chad, Jason, and Zeke were helping the rest of the Zeta Theta Mu brothers in setting up for the barbeque that would be starting within the next hour. Some of the Kappa Phi Sigma sisters that were on the social committee and the chair of the committee were also helping out but most of the guys hadn't seen majority of the sisters who were presently getting ready.

"So Troy, you hooking up with Nicole again?" asked Jason, making conversation as they hung up some more lantern lights from the trees in the backyard of the house. "Thought you were going to keep your distance for a while."

"Yeah man, what's up with that?" questioned Chad, pausing from tying the string of the lantern in his hands to look at his childhood best friend, puzzlement in his eyes. "Since when are you a one chick guy?"

Troy smirked, shaking his head. "Who says I'm tying myself to Nicole? She's just the flavor of the moment mixed in with many other flavors. I may be getting some from her more often than I intended but I've got at least two other sorority girls, a pianist, and a fashion designer in my pocket. Please, like I'd let go of my freedom like that for some chick."

"All right man! That's what I'm talking about!" exclaimed Chad, pumping fists with Troy before finishing the lantern he was hanging. "So who's the lucky girl tonight? Or should I say girls?"

As the ladder Jason was on wobbled a little, Troy put his concentration on holding the ladder steady before he replied, "Besides those five? There's one I'm eyeing but she's a real challenge."

"Your favorite type," added Jason, chuckling as he thought of the poor female that didn't stand a chance against the Bolton charm.

Zeke eyed Troy as his buddy began to wear a more thoughtful expression on his face. "A challenge you say?" prompted Zeke, having a sinking suspicion who Troy was talking about based on the fiery exchanges that had been going on during their two classes and group meetings with Gabriella.

Troy glanced over and saw the narrowed eyes his good friend trained on him at that moment. He shrugged his shoulders, giving Zeke a lazy smile. "She is a challenge, a real spitfire, but I'm trying to figure out if she's taken or not."

"Like that's stopped you before," called down Chad with a laugh.

"Hey, I was fourteen and didn't know she was dating the high school quarterback!" exclaimed Troy, wincing as if he could still feel the many bruises the older boy had given him the next day when Troy was alone at the local park.

"True," agreed Jason, stepping down the ladder, satisfied with his job with the lanterns given to him to hang. "Well I'm done. How much longer Curly?"

"Done!" shouted down Chad before he too climbed down the ladder that Zeke was still holding, his attention still being used to study Troy. "Thanks Zeke."

Zeke turned his head and gave Chad a smile. "Sure man. I guess we better get going, don't want the girls to see you looking like a slob and all right?"

Chad gave him his best indignant look. "Dude, this is what I'm wearing!" he returned, referencing the dirty shorts, ratty t-shirt, and barely held together shoes on his feet.

"Well, I guess you have no intention of getting with Taylor as she will never come near you with that get up. Guess I'll just have a nice clean shot at her tonight," taunted Jason, laughing as Chad narrowed his eyes at the mention.

"Don't ever fuck with my girl like that, hear me?" threw back Chad, hating the mere thought of Jason touching Taylor, even if she wasn't technically Chad's girlfriend at the moment.

"Hey, easy there," steadied Zeke, distracted by this new argument of sorts enough to leave the suspicion of Troy's real interest behind. "Chad, you know at least as far as the four of us go that none of us would go after the other's girl he was interested in, even an ex, without permission. It's our silent agreement since freshman year at East High."

Jason slowed down his laughter and eventually sobered enough to nod his agreement. "I may be harassing you but I'd never do it Curly."

Chad just nodded his head, showing he understood.

"Good, then let's get ready," said Zeke, relieved that the tension that flared up so quickly died just as fast. He followed Chad and Jason into the house unaware that Troy lingered outside for a few moments longer, watching Zeke with a thoughtful expression his face, wondering what Gabriella and Zeke really had together and whether it could be tampered with if only for a short while.

Within thirty minutes after Troy followed his friends back into the house, Troy was dressed in khaki cargo shorts with a deep blue, green, and red plaid shirt over his white t-shirt, a smirk on his face as he took one last look at himself in the mirror. He checked the drawer in his nightstand to ensure he had plenty of stock of the foil wrapped items he would be needing for sure later that night, closing it when Troy counted at least a dozen. Satisfied he was well dressed and prepared for the night, Troy left his single room on the second floor and walked down the stairs, hearing the music blasting from outside. He grabbed a beer from the cooler and twisted the cap off, sipping it just to wet his taste buds before Troy continued outside to mingle with the fraternity brothers and sorority girls already gathered.

The next week marked the start of a several week process each Greek organization had to build their new members, known within Greek Row as pledges, to be ready for initiation into each fraternity and sorority. The bids and acceptances had already happened in the past week as well, also adding to the craziness of Troy's week, which also meant that fresh meat was around. Troy smirked as he spied one of Zeta Theta Mu's newest pledges already starting his game with a new Kappa Phi Sigma pledge, making a mental note to congratulate the guy later if he ended up successful.

Looking away from the pair, Troy scanned the crowd, smiling in Nicole's direction as she caught his gaze, giving him an over energetic wave of her hand. 'Sorry Nicole, not tonight. You're getting a bit too clingy as I predicted,' he thought to himself as he continued to survey the crowd, his eyes doubling back as spied what he thought was his favorite fiery, passionate toy of the moment.

Troy licked his now dry lips as he watched Gabriella enter the backyard through the side yard gate, walking with Taylor, Sharpay, and some short, brown haired girl Troy had never seen before. His cobalt orbs refocused on Gabriella, feeling every molecule of his body tighten in excitement as Troy's gaze observed every bit of Gabriella, especially the way her black empire waist dress with different shades of blue flowers printed on it hugged her body just right, allowing the v-neckline to show Troy a great deal more of her cleavage than Gabriella would normally wear. Even the way Gabriella's hair was swept up in a half do with her hair left wavy and a bit tousled caught Troy's breath which seemed to hitch even more as his eyes followed the curves of her exposed legs.

Before he knew it, Troy was striding towards the four girls, responding to casual hellos that were thrown his way until he was finally where he wanted to be, standing in front of Gabriella. "You came," he greeted, looking directly into Gabriella's brown eyes that seemed to darken with his presence.

"I did. How very observant of you," returned Gabriella, careful not to roll her eyes at Troy's statement.

"Well, if you just gave me a few minutes of your time, I could share what else I observed about you," suggested Troy, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"So the rumors are true? You really do finish quite fast, nearly a world record it would seem by your own omission just now," replied Gabriella, smiling innocently at Troy.

Troy felt his grip on his beer bottle tighten as his eyes narrowed on her. "Well, at least now I know you listen to the gossip about me but sadly, you are quite mistaken. I'd be happy to prove to you how very long I can make it, leaving you wanting me even after all that time inside you."

Gabriella's palm was itching to slap that smirk off his face but she held it back, placing her left hand over her right as a way to physically restrain herself as well. "Like I said about a week ago, Troy, I don't do your species. Not going to happen."

"You sure? Dolled up the way you are, it seems like you are asking for it," murmured Troy as he leaned forward, knowing he was chancing that Gabriella's self control would hold to allow him to say this into her ear. "I'd be open to it if you are."

This time Gabriella allowed her instincts to take over and used both hands to push Troy forcefully away from her, a look of disgust on her face. "Not even worth a second of my mind to entertain Troy. Why don't you go find someone who actually finds your boorish behavior tolerable and, dare I say it, sexy, and play your little games with them. I'm not interested in being another notch in your belt and before you say it, no, I don't even think you're sexy."

Instead of seeing anger on Troy's face as she expected, Gabriella was surprised as she saw a gleam of determination enter Troy's now dark blue eyes. "We'll see about that angel, we'll see about that."

With that, Troy turned around and disappeared from Gabriella's view through the crowds of people now in the fraternity's backyard, allowing Gabriella to let go of a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding. She nearly jumped out of her skin though when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "Zeke! Don't do that!" exclaimed Gabriella, placing a hand over her speeding heart.

Zeke held up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, I was just checking to see if you were all right. Another fireworks episode with Troy huh?"

"I just wish he'd get over himself and grow up," returned Gabriella, shaking her head to rid herself of the memory of their most recent exchange. "It's not like he's God's gift to the female world."

"Unfortunately, too many of the girls on this campus would disagree with you," stated Kelsi, reminding Gabriella that she, Taylor and Sharpay were still around and had witnessed the entire episode. "Zeke is right, that is quite a fireworks display when you two get together."

"It's strangely, and don't hate me Gab, erotic watching you two," said Sharpay, almost in awe at what she had just seen between the two people she never would have expected it from together. "Gabriella Montez, you never told me that you had such chemistry with Bolton!"

"Because I don't! He's just an ass, plain and simple!" protested Gabriella, furiously shaking her head. "There are no sparks, no chemistry, nothing! There can't be! He's like, totally my opposite in every way!"

Taylor could only give Gabriella a small smile then, knowing that her next words would send Gabriella over the edge but they needed to be said as it was the truth. "But the saying is true though Gabriella. Opposites attract and you know this even from science class of the most basic type."

"Taylor is right Gabriella," added Kelsi, giving Gabriella an apologetic look. "Even I felt the waves of chemistry and tension roll off you two."

Zeke saw the uncertainty slowly appear in Gabriella's eyes before they were quickly blinked away, replaced with a steely determination. "Well despite what you all think, I am telling you now that Troy and I will never be what you think we seem to be capable of. I detest him just as much as he detests me. Come on Zeke, let's get a drink," she replied, grabbing Zeke's hand and dragging him away, needing to be away from the words of her friends before she really started thinking of the small ounces of truth in them.

From across the yard, a pair of cobalt eyes watched Gabriella lead Zeke into the fraternity house and felt a wave of jealousy drench his entire body seeing their hands intertwined together. Troy felt stupidly relieved though when Gabriella and Zeke both came back out of the house moments later, red cups in both of their hands, only to feel that green eyed monster again as Zeke whispered something in Gabriella's ear that made her face light up as she giggled. After watching for a few more moments and not seeming to be able to get rid of the feeling, Troy forced his gaze away and instead searched the crowd of people for someone to occupy Troy's traitorous thoughts and feelings, needing a distraction from the one girl dressed so sexily that night who threatened to make Troy question who he was.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The loud sound of his cell phone awoke Troy on Saturday. Feeling something hindering him from moving, Troy cracked open his right eye to see a mass of blonde hair in his face. Troy gently pushed the owner of said hair off of his arm and went to roll to his left and grab his phone located in his jean pocket on his bed. As he turned, Troy came face to face with a light brown-haired girl lying on the ground next to him.

Troy groaned before pushing himself up off of the floor and making his way to his bed, quickly grabbing his phone and flipping it open.

"What!?" Troy yelled, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Dude, grumpy much?" Chad snickered into the phone. Troy rubbed his forehead, Chad's loud voice not helping the throbbing pain in his head. "Anyways, where are you?"

"In my room. Sleeping. Where else would I be on a Saturday morning?" Troy asked rhetorically, his annoyance not hidden.

"How about in the gym playing basketball like we planned yesterday?" Chad fired back.

Troy spun around glancing at his alarm clock that was sitting next to his bed. Seeing it was 10:25, Troy groaned realizing he was almost a half-hour late.

"Crap! Man, I'm sorry. I'll be there in five minutes," Troy told him quickly before ending the call, tossing the phone on his bed and rushing into the bathroom to change. Troy walked back into his room, dressed in his red basketball shorts and black cut-off shirt, slipping on his white Nike shoes before heading out the door, ignoring the two girls still sleeping on his floor.

A few minutes later Troy threw open the gym doors, the sounds of bouncing basketballs and shoes squeaking against the wood floor filling his ears. Since two games of five-on-five were already underway, Troy made his way to the office in the corner of the gym to get a basketball to shoot around with.

Troy walked to the doorway, leaning against it while knocking gently on the open door. The brunette girl sitting at the desk with her back to the door stopped tapping her pencil against her textbook to the beat of the music playing from the radio and spun around in her chair.

"Hey angel," Troy greeted her, his lips curled into a taunting smirk.

Gabriella sighed and turned the radio down slightly before turning her attention back to him. "Can I help you?"

Ignoring her question, Troy took a few steps forward and leaned against the counter to her left. "I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah? Well maybe you would if you spent less time paying attention to all those girls hanging off of you and looked around once in awhile," Gabriella stated, her eyes rolling in annoyance.

"Jealous?" Troy probed, obviously amused.

"Get over yourself Bolton," Gabriella scoffed. "Not every girl is infatuated with you."

"That's not what those two girls I was with last night told me or the few before them," Troy winked at her, hoisting himself up to sit on the counter.

"Listen as much as I'm enjoying this," Gabriella began, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm, "I have a job to do, so what is it you want?"

"Besides you?" Gabriella rolled her eyes and reached to turn back up the music, returning her attention to the book in front of her. "Okay, okay," Troy said quickly while jumping off the counter. "I just need a basketball."

Troy walked over to the rack of basketballs in the corner and picked one up, spinning it in his hands a few times before bouncing it, putting it back when he realized it was a little flat. Scanning the rack, Troy spotted a ball with a better grip and picked it up to test it out. "This one will do," Troy said after spinning it in his hands and bouncing it a few times. "Thanks."

"Hold on." Gabriella got up out of her seat and walked over to stand in the doorway.

"Not ready for me to leave yet?" Troy smiled, spinning the ball on his fingertip.

"You can't take a ball out of here without leaving your student ID card," Gabriella informed him, ignoring his question.

Troy placed the ball under his arm and reached into his pockets. "Guess I don't have it with me. Don't worry," he grinned. "I'll bring it back. You have my word."

Troy made his way to walk past her, but Gabriella stepped in front of him. "Sorry but that's not good enough especially as I can only imagine those girls back in your room had your word that they were special to you only to be carelessly left behind this morning. Our policy is we need some sort of collateral."

Troy stopped and tried to think of what he could use as collateral, smirking a little at her smart jab at him, realizing the only thing he brought with him were the clothes on his back.

"Well," Troy shrugged, placing the ball down and grabbing the hem of his shirt, quickly stripping it off his body. "Here."

Gabriella looked in disgust at his outstretched arm holding his shirt, not bothering to look up at the full on smirk on his face. "Put your shirt back on Bolton. Keys or a cell phone will work just fine."

"Didn't bring them," Troy shrugged. "I had to rush out the door this morning. I didn't even have time to wake up those two girls that were with me on the floor."

"Very impressive," Gabriella exclaimed sarcastically. "Good to know you get all the shallow bimbos at school. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my work."

"Sure thing angel," Troy said, tossing her his shirt with a wink before picking up the ball and heading out the door.

Gabriella groaned in frustration, chucking his shirt harshly, not bothering to notice it land on the floor in the corner of the room.

* * *

Gabriella groaned as she flopped down onto the couch next to Sharpay and Taylor.

"Rough day?" Taylor asked amusedly.

"You could say that," replied Gabriella with a sigh, rubbing the crease of her forehead in frustration.

"What happened?" Sharpay asked, turning down the volume on the TV.

Gabriella removed her hands from her head, tilting it to her right to look at the two. "Well, I got hardly any of my homework done today because Bolton showed up and proceeded to annoy me to death. He came in because he wanted a basketball. First off, what basketball player comes to the gym without a basketball available?"

"So you're mad because you actually had to do work at work?" Sharpay sarcastically questioned. "You know Gabi, some of us actually have jobs where we do work, not get paid to basically do our homework."

Taylor and Sharpay both began to laugh, stopping as two throw pillows came flying in their direction.

"That's what I thought," Gabriella smirked when the two stopped laughing.

"So what happened with Troy?" asked Taylor while smoothing out her hair that was knocked out of place by the pillow.

"About an hour after I got there he showed up being his usual annoying and arrogant self. He didn't have an ID card or anything for collateral, so he takes off his shirt and throws it at me," Gabriella explained while looking at Taylor, missing the smirk that appeared on Sharpay's face. "Then after the scrimmage, he stuck around for a few hours, shooting around in front of a group of cheerleaders that showed up. I have heard enough squealing and giggling for my lifetime. I mean, these are supposed to be college students, but no…they're more like teen girls fawning over some teenage star."

"Were they there your whole shift?" Gabriella nodded in response to Sharpay's question.

"Yeah, pretty much. Then when he brought the ball back, he brought the fan girls with him that couldn't keep their hands off his chest. I'm sure he knew I was annoyed because the stupid smirk wouldn't leave his face as he handed me the ball, grabbed his shirt, and winked at me. I just wish he'd go away," Gabriella admitted, throwing her head back as she let her frustration out.

"Well, like I said before Gabi, Troy thrives off of this type of situation," Sharpay reminded her.

"Maybe if you just ignore him, he'll leave you alone," Taylor added, rubbing Gabriella's arm sympathetically.

"Believe me, I'd love to be able to do that. But he's in two of my classes, and my job is in the gym, which is like his second home. Not to mention all of the events we do with Zeta Theta Mu. I just can't catch a break," Gabriella complained.

"Come on," Sharpay stood up, pulling Gabriella and Taylor to their feet. "You need a night away."

"Shar, did you not hear me earlier? I didn't get any of my homework done today." Gabriella slipped out of Sharpay's grip, letting herself flop back onto the couch.

"Gabi, are you kidding me? You're one of the smartest people at this school and you are graduating a year early, not to mention it's only Saturday. You can finish your homework tomorrow. Let's go," demanded Sharpay, her tone not allowing for any argument.

Sharpay and Taylor both grabbed Gabriella's arms, dragging her up to her feet, and led her out the door.

* * *

Troy flipped his shoes off as he entered his bedroom, watching them bounce across the floor and hit the wall, relieved that the girls from last night and this morning were long gone. He grabbed his towel that was hanging on the back of the door before heading down the hallway towards the bathroom. Ten minutes later, Troy emerged from the bathroom, dark blue jeans and a red t-shirt on with the towel draped around his neck.

After tossing his towel in his bedroom, he made his way downstairs to see the new pledge class that had arrived for the afternoon. Troy made his way around the group of guys exchanging high fives and fist pounds with each of the ten guys that had arrived for the new member class.

As Troy was talking to the last pledge, the door opened prompting everyone to turn their heads. Troy rolled his eyes as Tyler Whitland, the seemingly habitually late freshmen pledge walked through the door without an ounce of concern on his face for being late.

"Whitland, I think we said 4:00, not 4:03. You're making quite a habit of this," Troy scolded, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," the blonde lanky freshmen replied with a careless shrug of his shoulders.

"Too bad," Troy shrugged. "Hey Cross!" Troy called out to the Vice President of the Membership who was in the other room getting stuff set up.

"Yeah?" Jason yelled back before peeking around the corner.

"We have time for a trip out to the quad?" asked Troy.

Jason smirked and nodded as Troy turned back to Tyler, the look in his eyes scaring the freshmen and sophomores of the pledge class.

"Okay guys, slight change of plans. We're all going out to the quad to join a bunch of our classmates and watch Tyler here do fifty pushups in his boxers," Troy told the rest of the pledges, spinning around to face them.

Troy faced Tyler as the guys all began to exit the front door. "Let's go Whitland," Troy smirked, patting him on the shoulder. Tyler's shoulders slumped as he made his way to follow the rest of the guys, but he stopped abruptly, feeling an arm pull him back.

"Did I forget to mention you have to walk out there in your boxers too?" Tyler's eyes went wide while Troy suppressed a chuckle before making his way to the front door. "Let's go Whitland, we don't have all day."

A few seconds later, a fearful Tyler stepped out the front door, his eyes never leaving the ground as he walked with the rest of the group towards the quad, trying to hide his almost naked self between the rest of the pledge class. When they got there a few minutes later, Troy scanned for the best possible place to bring the most humiliation to the pledge. His eyes fell on a large group of girls, dressed in bikinis as they lay on their towels, attempting to get a tan.

Troy grinned and pushed Tyler forward. "Right over there my man," he pointed to a spot near the center of all the girls.

Tyler groaned in frustration, his head still low as he stepped to the center. Many of the girls began to whisper and giggle as they looked up to see Troy standing near them. Troy winked at them before returning his attention to Tyler.

Tyler brought his eyes up from the ground glancing over at Troy briefly. Tyler sighed and dropped to his knees seeing Troy nod his head at him. Getting in position, Tyler began to do pushups, gaining the attention of much of the rest of the student body out on the quad.

After pushup twenty-seven, Troy could tell Tyler was weakening, beads of sweat dripping from his face, his arms shaking as he continued the pushups. Tyler tried to ignore the soft laughter he heard from all those surrounding him, including the guys from the fraternity and all of the girls that had stopped their tanning efforts to watch.

Somehow, Tyler made it to fifty pushups some time later. Troy watched as he collapsed onto his face when he finally reached fifty, not even caring any longer about the murmurs he heard.

Troy smiled before yelling out to everyone, "Alright, back to the house. Come on Whitland. Don't make us wait all night to actually start."

Tyler took a deep breath, pushing himself off the ground before following Troy back to the house, his body feeling weak as he willed himself to take each step.

* * *

"Left! Right! No left now! Left again!" Sharpay screamed out instructions over the loud music as she coached Gabriella through a Dance Dance Revolution song.

"This is the dumbest game ever!" Gabriella groaned in frustration as the game ended. "Sharpay I can't concentrate when you're screaming at me."

"Just trying to help," Sharpay shrugged. "I can't believe you still don't know how to play this game."

Gabriella hopped off the dancing pads, holding her arm out to Sharpay in a gesture to take her place. "I gladly give my position to an expert DDR player like yourself. I'm going to get a drink!" Gabriella called out to Sharpay and Taylor while darting around the corner.

The three had spent a couple of hours shopping, much to Gabriella's disappointment. After a little over an hour, Gabriella convinced them that she needed food so they made their way to the best local pizza place in town. Ten minutes later, after placing their order, Gabriella had been dragged by Sharpay and Taylor towards the game room and they had been playing DDR ever since.

As she walked over to the fountain drinks, Gabriella heard the door open and she snapped her head around to see none other than Troy, Chad, and Jason walk into the pizza place. Before she could be spotted, Gabriella grabbed her drink and snuck back towards the game room, heading straight for Taylor and Sharpay.

"You'll never guess who just walked in the door," she began with a bitter tone.

"Who?" Taylor questioned, stopping from playing the game to turn around to face Gabriella.

"Bolton," Gabriella simply answered.

"You really can't seem to get away from him," Sharpay pointed out, earning a glare from Gabriella.

"Does he know you're here?" Taylor asked, a smile toying on her lips at Sharpay's comment.

"No, he didn't see me yet. But it's gonna be tough seeing your boyfriend is here with him," Gabriella informed her.

Taylor's face broke out into a smile as she looked around the place, searching for Chad. "He's not my boyfriend by the way," Taylor corrected her. Gabriella glanced at Sharpay as they both rolled their eyes seeing Taylor's eyes light up when she saw Chad.

"Sure he isn't," Gabriella muttered under her breath, while smirking at Sharpay. Seconds later Chad noticed Taylor. She and Chad shared a small wave, while Chad smiled shyly and pushed Troy along. Seeing Troy headed their way, Gabriella quickly glanced around for an escape before ducking behind a corner, out of sight.

She found herself hidden in the corner with a basketball arcade game. Deciding she would pass the time by playing, she stuck two tokens in and brought the ball up to shoot at the basket that was moving front to back and side to side. Disappointed with only making one shot her first attempt, Gabriella put two more tokens in and grabbed the ball, getting ready for another game.

Throwing the ball up, she missed the hoop entirely to the left.

"Your form is all wrong. You need to bend your knees more first off."

The sound of Troy's amused voice startled Gabriella causing her to miss her next attempt. "My form is fine as it is," Gabriella said stubbornly, not even turning around to acknowledge him.

"Not from what I've seen," Troy said, walking towards her and leaning on the wall beside her.

"Don't you have some girls to go hit on or something?" Gabriella asked sarcastically, taking another shot and missing to the right.

"Not tonight angel. I'm fine right where I am." Ignoring Gabriella's huff of annoyance, Troy continued as he said, "I saw you take off once you spotted us and thought you could use the company."

"And it never crossed your mind that I was trying to avoid you?" Gabriella countered, still not looking at him while she attempted another basket, only to have it bounce off the rim.

Troy chuckled and stepped closer. He placed his left hand on her waist, smirking as she jumped at his touch. Gently he placed his right hand on her right arm, pushing her elbow in so it was facing straight forward at a ninety degree angle.

"Now, bend your knees and shoot with only your right hand, the left is just to keep the ball steady. Be sure to flick your wrist," Troy said softly, removing his hands and taking a step back.

Gabriella released the ball, watching it sail through the net, much to her satisfaction. She grinned, proud of herself for making one and picked up another ball, preparing to shoot. Taking the same stance, she shot the ball again, groaning in frustration as it rimmed in and out.

"Need my help with your form again?" Troy smirked, crossing his arms in front of him as he took his place, leaning once again on the wall beside her. "Girls do tell me there is something about my touch…"

Feeling her anger boil up at his arrogance, Gabriella grabbed a ball, chucking it hard into his stomach. Troy doubled over in pain as the ball dropped to the ground and bounced across the floor.

"You know, just when I think you could have some form of a nice guy in you CP, you go and say something like that. Why don't you go find one of those girls who enjoys your touch so much and do whatever you do with them? I honestly couldn't care less what you do so why don't you just leave me alone?"

Gabriella pushed past him and made her way over to the table where Taylor, Sharpay, Jason, and Chad were sitting, cursing the fact that the guys were now joining them for dinner.

Relieved to see the pizza had arrived, Gabriella sat at the end of the table next to Sharpay and across from Jason. She grabbed a slice of pizza and began eating it while she pointedly ignored Troy as he sat at the opposite end of the table doing the same, both making sure not to be caught looking at each other for the rest of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Co-Written with cj10824**

Chapter 5

Gabriella plopped down onto Zeke's familiar extra long twin bed in the double he shared with Jason in the Zeta Theta Mu house, holding out the extra large pizza box to her college best friend. "Fresh from the oven, half Hawaiian and half chicken with garlic pizza just for you and me! I swear I only get noticed by the brothers if I have food."

Zeke laughed, taking the pizza box and setting it on a side table as he fished out some paper plates from the drawer next to the mini-fridge. "Thought you liked it that way or are you becoming a true stereotypical sorority girl on me?"

He chuckled more as a pillow went flying through the air and managed to hit his chest as he turned around. "You can be such a jerk sometimes Zeke Baylor!"

"But you know you love me," taunted Zeke, grabbing two slices of the garlic chicken pizza and passing it to Gabriella. "Who else could be your confidant, faithful project partner, and amazing cook all in one?"

"Good point," concedes Gabriella. "So, what movie are you going to make me watch tonight?"

Zeke grinned at the thought of torturing Gabriella with a gory war movie, her least favorite, but thought better about it. "Well, since you have seemed rather tortured by a good friend and frat brother of mine, go ahead and pick from mine and J's collection."

Gabriella didn't need to be told twice so she got up and took her plate with her, nibbling as she opened the drawer with the DVDs. 'Of course, pornos right on top,' she scoffed to herself, rolling her eyes as she saw the action movies and horror movies next. "Any non-testosterone and non-XXX rated filled movies in here?"

"Perhaps but not many," returned Zeke with a mouthful of pizza. "Before you ask, those pornos aren't mine, they're Jason's."

"Yeah, uh huh, sure," teased Gabriella, going through more titles settling on a title she hadn't expected. "_Crossroads_? Seriously?"

"What?!" exclaimed Zeke, spitting out the beer he had been drinking. "Let me see that."

Gabriella handed him the DVD, giggles spilling out of her mouth as Zeke's mouth dropped, opening it and then closing it. "Must be Jason's."

"What's mine?" asked Jason, coming into the room, looking at Zeke and spying the Britney Spears movie. "Dude, you watch that girly crap?"

"No, don't you?" returned Zeke.

"Hell no man," replied Jason, grabbing a slice of each type of pizza and putting it on a paper towel. "Guys are playing Halo downstairs if you want."

Zeke looked back at Gabriella who gave him a neutral look back. "No dude, I'm going to stay here with Gabs, thanks."

"Suit yourself man. See you Gab," stated Jason before leaving the room.

"You know, it's okay if you want to hang with the brothers instead. It's also okay if you own said girly movie," offered Gabriella, closing the drawer and sitting next to Zeke on the bed, taking a sip of the soda Zeke had poured her.

"I'd rather spend time with you. It is our night after all and the movie isn't mine," Zeke adamantly stated before he smacked his forehead with the DVD case in his hands. "Of course, my little teeny bopper sister. Bet she slipped it in as a joke somehow when she was last visiting after I harassed her about the ungodly amount of drool she had hanging out of her mouth after watching a movie with her favorite Hollywood hunk."

Gabriella just shook her head, suppressing the laughter that threatened to come out of her mouth. "Sure Zeke, whatever you say. Whatever the story is though, today seems to be my lucky day because we're so watching it, even if I'm not a huge Britney fan. Best movie you have to offer in that collection between you two guys."

He grimaced at the thought before shaking his head. "No way! I will never live down having that play in my DVD player!"

"We'll just shut the door most of the way or something. You said it was my pick after all!" pouted Gabriella, giving Zeke her infamous puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, the eyes win, fine!" gave in Zeke, handing her the DVD case with the DVD.

Gabriella wore a small smile of victory on her face as she popped the DVD into the DVD player and pressed the play button, quickly sitting back down on the bed while Zeke got up and shut the door most of the way so someone passing by couldn't see what they were watching.

Zeke grabbed a fresh beer from the fridge before refilling Gabriella's glass, sitting back down and grimacing again as he pressed play. "The things I do for you Gabs, I swear."

They continued to talk here and there through the first half of the movie, finishing the pizza at the same time. In fact, Zeke and Gabriella had almost finished the movie when there was a knock on the door, signaling their first interruption.

"Zeke man, do you have those notes from…" came a familiar voice, stopping as Troy swung the door open and paused seeing Zeke and Gabriella looking comfortable together on Zeke's bed, even if they were just sitting next to each other. "Whoa, sorry. I didn't know it was game time Zeke. Should have put the traditional signal tie on the door man."

Before Zeke could say anything, Gabriella growled, "Not everyone has to think or act with a certain sexual organ Troy. There is just a thing as a man and a woman being friends."

"Yeah, I heard about that myth too. It's nice to know you think of my member by the way angel," teased Troy, smirking as he saw Gabriella get even more frustrated by his presence.

Zeke cleared his throat, seeing this as another tense moment he would have to break before all hell broke loose. "Troy, why'd you come in? Notes?"

The cerulean blue eyes lingered on the glowering brunette for a few moments longer before he looked over at his friend. "Yeah man, was looking for notes from Sport Marketing from the last session."

"If maybe the professor wrote the notes on the red head and the brunette he was drooling over during class, Troy would probably have them," mumbled Gabriella to herself, forcing her eyes to remain on the television where the movie was still playing, feeling Troy's eyes on her again.

"I knew you were smart angel but that is a brilliant idea," remarked Troy, smirking more as he saw Gabriella's jaw tense even more. "I'll have to recommend that to the professor. Good to know though you are checking me out after all."

With a sigh, Zeke reached over and grabbed his Sports Marketing notebook and handed it to Troy. "Here dude. You square now?"

Troy was about to go when an idea popped into his head that would give him reason to linger longer. "Actually, why don't' I stay?"

"What? Why?" burst out Gabriella, staring in horror at Troy.

"Well, a soon as your teeny bopper chick flick is over, wouldn't this be a great time to meet to go over our project some more? We need to meet at least once a week now to make sure we are on top of the deliverables, right?" Troy stated, looking first at Zeke and then Gabriella, who by that time had managed to regain her composure.

Zeke reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. "He's right Gabs. We need to do some live research soon and probably could discuss it tonight."

Seeing the truth in what both guys said, Gabriella also agreed. "All right, let's meet but Bolton you better shut up so we can finish the movie."

"Fine by me," Troy returned, grabbing one of Jason's pillows and propping it against the wall before sitting on Jason's bed.

Troy settled down a few moments later but found himself watching Gabriella who up to that point had been tensely sitting there, relaxing only when Zeke wrapped an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her upper arm with his hand. Out of nowhere a strong desire to rip Zeke's arm off filled Troy's body at just the sight. 'Just friends? Looks like more to me. The game will only get harder if it is more.'

When the movie was finally over a short while later, Zeke turned off the television and DVD player before he grabbed this notebook and extra pad of paper and pens for him and Gabriella. "So, what is it exactly we want to discuss?"

Gabriella took the pad of paper and pen with a grateful smile. "Well, we should maybe talk about the live research since notes on that are due in two weeks. The place we want to observe should be ideally a place that has live music first and then a DJ or vice versa so we can observe the atmosphere both times at the same place, keeping all the other variables besides time constant."

Troy thought for a few moments, coming up with the exact place described. "I got it! Let's go to Starlight!"

"Starlight? Never heard of it. It's not one of your strip clubs is it?" questioned Gabriella, arching an eyebrow.

"As you mentioned before angel, not all thinking requires the involvement of the penis. No, Starlight is a club that has a local band play for the first half of the night and then a DJ the second part of the night. It happens every other Friday and this Friday is one of those nights," answered Troy. "You two game?"

Zeke looked at Gabriella before he shrugged. "Sounds like a good plan to me. Gabs?"

"I suppose so since it is for class," agreed Gabriella after some hesitancy.

"Awesome, it's settled," stated Troy. "So, what exactly is it we need to look for?"

An actually good and productive conversation started from that moment, Gabriella and Troy both surprised once again when they saw how well they could get along. Gabriella actually found herself smiling with Troy and Zeke during their short side jokes used as mini-breaks.

That smile grabbed Troy's attention, especially as they wrapped up their discussion and the smile appeared more often as Gabriella became more comfortable. "You know what Gabriella? You should really smile more often."

The smile that had been there moments before slipped from Gabriella's face at his words. "Why do you always have to ruin any good times we have with some stupid remark Troy?"

Troy threw his hands up in the air in defense. "Hey, Gabriella, I honestly meant that! I've never really seen you smile around me before and just thought it suited you well, that's it, honest."

Guilt filled Gabriella as she saw the sincerity in Troy's eyes. "Troy, I'm sorry for going off on you. I guess I'm just so used to your more sarcastic side I blew right by the compliment. Thank you."

"You're welcome," returned Troy with a smile of his own. "I can understand what you are saying too. What do you say to a truce of sorts? I'll lay off if you will."

Gabriella eyed Troy suspiciously at first but once again saw only honesty there. "All right, sure."

"Oh my God, I think I'm dreaming," exclaimed Zeke, pinching his arm dramatically. "You two actually are getting along and are agreeing to do it again in the future?"

"Oh quit the dramatics Baylor. You've been hanging around Sharpay a bit too long," joked Troy just as he sensed another pair of eyes gazing at him. He looked up and spotted Nicole out in the hallway. "Hey Nicole!"

Zeke heard Gabriella groan as Nicole walked into the room, ignoring Gabriella and Zeke, walking straight to Troy to plant a long kiss on his lips. "Hey Troy," she breathed.

"Oh brother," murmured Gabriella, rolling her eyes which caused Zeke to chuckle quietly.

Nicole promptly sat down on Troy's lap, causing him to look nervously from her to Gabriella, seeing the look of disbelief on Gabriella's face again. 'So much for the truce lasting for long.'

As soon as Nicole's fingers began sliding through Troy's hair, Troy reached up and gently grabbed her wrist, shaking his head at her. "Why don't you go meet me in my room babe? We're finishing up a meeting right now and I'll meet you there okay?"

Nicole pouted a little but eventually got up off of Troy's lap but only after giving him another deep kiss. As she made her way out, she made sure to give Zeke her best smile and wave at him, ignoring the presence of the third person in the room completely. Taking up Troy's invitation, Nicole walked right into Troy's room and made herself comfortable on Troy's bed, knowing it wouldn't be too long.

Back in Zeke and Jason's room, the good natured feeling before Nicole's arrival struggled to resurface but never quite made it as the three finished taking notes on their plan for the next few weeks and what each of them would be responsible for doing. When it was clear that everything was complete, Troy suddenly felt like the third wheel again, seeing that Gabriella and Zeke had no plans of leaving the room or each other's presence any time soon.

Troy rubbed the back of his neck, wondering how best to handle the situation, truly not wanting a slip back into Gabriella and his previous stage of their relationship. "Umm, so what are you guys doing tonight?"

Zeke and Gabriella just looked at each other before both shrugged. "Probably will just be studying different things and talking. Kinda whatever seems to be our whim at the time," answered Zeke. "We're both pretty easy going. Maybe I can even get Gabriella to play some Hell's Kitchen with me."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, giggling at the thought of them playing one of Zeke's favorite time management games because it had to do with cooking. "We can but only if I get through the homework due on Thursday, okay?"

"Call me dumb but isn't that a few days away brainiac?" teased Zeke, wincing as Gabriella slapped his shoulder.

"Shut up slacker!" retorted Gabriella, laughing with him.

Troy watched the playful banter for a few moments longer before he decided it was time to go, that his presence wasn't really acknowledged as it was anyway. "So it sounds like we are all set. Friday night then, we'll meet here?"

"Sure, sounds good Troy," answered Gabriella, a smile lingering on her lips from all her laughter moments before.

Just seeing that smile again caused Troy to catch his breath, some big part of him wishing it was him that had put that smile there and not Zeke. "Cool. See you in class then Gabriella. Zeke, see you later?"

"Yeah man," returned Zeke, pumping fists with Troy after he had gathered his things, including Zeke's Sports Marketing notebook. "Better hurry to your room. I heard Nicole has little tolerance for tardiness."

There was a none too discreet shove against Zeke's shoulder with Gabriella's own, accompanied by a rather dirty look. Troy tilted his head to the side as he wondered what that little last bit Zeke said could have meant. "Umm, yeah, I guess I better. Later!"

Waiting a few moments after Troy left to start talking again, Zeke decided to broach a subject he knew he had to discuss with Gabriella soon, especially based on what he had just witnessed within the last few hours. "Hey Gabs, I've been wanting to talk to you about something but don't get mad okay?"

"Zeke, that sounded like a prep phrase Sharpay or Taylor would say to me before they tell me the clothes I've been wearing all day make me look fat or something. What is it?" returned Gabriella, all gaiety gone from her tone as she saw the seriousness in Zeke's face.

"Look, I know you and Troy have this feisty relationship going on between you and I think it's interesting to see how you deal together on a daily basis, watching things progress, but as your college best friend, well one of them, I need to tell you to make sure to be careful with him," stated Zeke, searching Gabriella's eyes to make sure she was really listening to him, which she seemed to be. "Troy is one of my best friends, we go way back before even high school, but as your college best friend, I feel like I need to make sure you know what you're getting involved in here with him."

"Whoa, hang on, involved? Zeke, you make it sound like Troy and I are dating or something," replied Gabriella, slightly panicked by the image Zeke had just painted in her mind.

Zeke shook his head, getting a bit frustrated at himself for not being able to clearly convey what he was thinking. "No, I know that you aren't dating but with all this insane amounts of chemistry going on, positive or not, I just wanted to tell you to be careful with Troy. I know you aren't into guys and dating and I totally get that but in the off chance that you are, the Troy who exists here on campus is not the Troy who I grew up with. He has earned the reputation he has as the Ladies' Man of Zeta Theta Mu, hell even Greek Row, for a reason."

Gabriella laid a hand on top of Zeke's knee, giving him a small smile. "Zeke, I appreciate the concern you have for me, I adore that about you, but you don't have to worry. I know all about Troy and his type already. I'm here for only one reason and that's to graduate college, get a great career, and then maybe think about guys. I appreciate you looking out for me though."

"Just promise me you'll be careful around him Gabs, please," begged Zeke. "I have seen him break so many hearts since senior year in high school and I can't watch yours break with them if I can help it. You'd actually be surprised about something Gabs. If you had known Troy before senior year in high school, I think you would actually like him in that way you seem to not be letting yourself like guys."

Unable to contain it, Gabriella scoffed at this. "Now that, that I have trouble believing Zeke. Me actually like crush on Bolton? Either you're telling me that I'd be insane or that Troy was a whole different person before."

"The latter, definitely the latter," answered Zeke, feeling relieved that he finally told Gabriella about his apprehensions that he had been feeling lately. "Anyway, now that I got that off my chest, shall we study so we can get to Hell's Kitchen before you turn into a pumpkin on me?"

"Yes sir," agreed Gabriella, flipping to a fresh page of the notepad she was borrowing from Zeke and starting on her piece of the project since she didn't have any of her other study materials with her, knowing too that she wanted to make sure she had everything ready for this project the next time they met after the live research at Starlight.

* * *

Troy groaned as he felt Nicole's lips glide down his neck and felt her hands on his abs under his polo, running her long nails up and down them a few times. What was upsetting Troy was that the groan was not one of pleasure which usually came when he had any girl kissing him, feeling him up skin to skin. No, it was a groan of frustration that Troy just couldn't get himself into making out with Nicole and definitely saw no way of how they could advance from this level to the next if he couldn't even feel anything now. After entering his room and closing the door behind him, Troy had found Nicole laying seductively on his bed and had immediately gone over to her, being more than welcomed by her arms and her lips. As the minutes passed though, Troy found the lustful haze he had been in initially quickly fading, finding an emptiness where pleasure usually was in abundance.

Never being one for pretending, Troy rolled their bodies so he was laying on top of Nicole, hating himself as he forced himself to disentangle her hands from his hair before Troy could sit up, wiping away at the lip gloss streaks he felt sticking to his skin before looking back at Nicole who had a worried look in her eyes. "Troy, what is it?"

"I just, I'm not feeling this right now babe, sorry," he apologized. "Look, I know you came over for a reason, at least I can only imagine that you did. What's up?"

After a few moments of straightening her clothes and getting her emotions in check, especially the hurt she felt at Troy's sudden rejection of her, Nicole took in a breath before looking back at Troy. "I wanted to talk to you about how things were going, what we discussed a while back."

An instant light bulb turned on in Troy's head at the mere mention of what Nicole had in mind. "Ah, I see, checking up on how things are progressing. They're good, at least I think they are. Just give me some time and I think we'll both be happy with the project."

"So you're still in on working on it? Really?" asked Nicole, excitement back in her eyes and in her voice.

"Yeah, I gave my word," replied Troy, getting up and straightening his shirt, seeing in the mirror he had a new hickey which was easily covered up by flipping his collar up. "Anyway Nicole, I think I'm actually going to go play some ball with Chad or something. I'll talk to you later?"

Recognizing her dismissal, Nicole only nodded, getting up and gathering her things before she walked to Troy's closed door, pausing to kiss Troy which he at least returned. "Night Troy."

"Night Nicole," he breathed, waiting until she had closed the door to hit the wall behind him with his head, closing his eyes as he wondered what had come over him and how exactly he was going to tackle their little project.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Zeke shot the basketball and groaned as it rolled around the rim of the basketball hoop before falling off to the ground, and not through the net. "Shit!"_

_Troy chuckled, retrieving the ball and bouncing it between his hands. "Game over Baylor. Man, what a way to lose. Good game though, you really had me working."_

_"IE, Hoops is in a good mood and is being nice to us instead of the taunting he usually treats us to out here on the court," chimed in Chad from the sidelines. "Guess it's me and you Hoops next for some one on one?"_

_"Hell yeah man," agreed Troy, already tossing Chad the ball before Zeke could walk off the court completely. _

_Zeke grabbed his water and watched as Troy and Chad immediately got into an intense game, knowing that they would be a while. Jason was still back in their shared room at the frat house recovering from drinking way too much at the party last night meaning Zeke was on his own. Already feeling bored after there was only five out of twenty scored, Zeke decided to walk around the gym, knowing he had never taken the time to see what else was around besides the basketball courts and the gym despite having been there countless times all freshman year and a several times this year, their sophomore year, already. _

_He walked out of the basketball courts and walked down the hallway, getting overwhelmed a few minutes later by the strong smell of chlorine as he neared the indoor pool, pausing at one of the windows to see other students swimming during open hours, making a mental note to give it a try one day soon as a switch to working out in the gym and running on the track. Zeke also stumbled upon some squash courts down that same hallway before reaching a side entrance he didn't know existed before turning around and going back down the hallway. Once in the lobby, Zeke continued going straight, going down yet another hallway he wasn't aware of. _

_Satisfied after going down that hallway and finding a dance class looking set of rooms along with a room dedicated fully to cardio machines, Zeke meandered back towards the indoor basketball courts, going through another entrance than the one he left through fifteen minutes before. Before Zeke could start walking back towards the court where Troy and Chad were currently still playing, he noticed the half door open to a room that was usually closed when he had previously seen it, which was seldom as he was usually rather focused on the games going on. _

_Quirking his head to the side, Zeke walked over to the open half door and peered in, smiling a little as he heard a feminine voice humming before he saw the petite brunette who was currently bobbing her head to whatever music she was listening to on her IPod while she studied. Zeke took some time to study her profile, recalling that she looked familiar and wasn't sure if it was because he had seen her here at the gym or somewhere else. Tearing his eyes away from the girl, Zeke looked around the room and realized that this must be where students went to rent gym equipment like basketballs and such for those who played casually. 'Not a bad job, getting to study and be in the gym.'_

_"Can I help you with something?" asked the brunette, interrupting Zeke's thoughts._

_His brown eyes turned to her, smiling a bit more at her as she wore a rather friendly look on her face. "I was just curious what was in here. I've seen the door closed I think all the time and saw it open for the first time today while on break from playing."_

_"Ah, an avid basketball player huh?" observed the girl, standing up from the desk and walking closer to Zeke. "You look familiar. Are you a freshman?"_

_"No, sophomore, and I was going to say the same thing to you. Are we in classes together?" returned Zeke, puzzled as she shook her head._

_"Doubt it. I'm stuck in all general education classes with one exception but that's my dumb luck for my first semester in college as a lowly freshman. I can't wait to get into more challenging courses," remarked the brunette. "I'm Gabriella by the way."_

_"Zeke," he replied, extending his right hand to her, surprised at the firm grip she had. "That's quite a handshake you have."_

_Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Well, they do say that you can tell a lot about someone within the first minute you meet them, including their handshake."_

_Zeke nodded his agreement. "I've heard that too. Must be a business major once you can declare it right?"_

_She grinned back at him as a reward for his being spot on. "Exactly! You too?"_

_"Bingo," he answered, seeing something shiny on Gabriella's navy blue tank top on her left side. Zeke narrowed his eyes as he looked at the pin, knowing instantly why she looked familiar. "Pledging Kappa Phi Sigma?"_

_Gabriella, who always forgot she was wearing the stupid pin, blushed. "Yeah. It's as good as a scarlet letter declaring your devotion to the sorority or something."_

_"Hey, at least you didn't have to carry around two bricks around with you at all times. I had to do that when I was pledging Zeta Theta Mu my first semester last year as a freshman with my buddies. Our friend Jason, he totally forgot them one day and had to carry around four with him everywhere including to a huge party we had. Now that was hysterical yet rather sad," commented Zeke, remembering that particular memory from his pledging process. "Are the sisters of Kappa Phi Sigma treating you well?"_

_"I guess," shrugged Gabriella, knowing she should be careful with what she said to this guy she just met who was also part of the Greek community, knowing how tight knit some Greek people were. 'I somehow get this feeling though like I can trust him though. Maybe it's the honesty in his eyes.'_

_Zeke chuckled at her comment. "Sounds like what I would expect of them. They are mostly a great group of girls who love to have fun but there are just some who are definitely power hungry and driven to get where they want to get no matter who they step on. Totally not my style. I guess that's how we look familiar to each other. Our frat is like your brother frat or whatever it is. We do a lot of events together. Were you at the party last night?"_

_Gabriella sighed, wincing at the memory of not really being acknowledged at the party by basically anyone except for Sharpay and Taylor. "Yeah, I was there. Blended in right in with the drapes and wall."_

_"Must have failed at it cause I remember seeing you there, now that I think about it. Not your scene huh?" questioned Zeke._

_"Not really but my mom was a Kappa Phi Sigma," stated Gabriella. "I'm more here for the education."_

_"Ah, makes sense. I didn't get the whole party girl, 'let's spend Daddy's money as fast as I can' type of girl vibe from you. You better be careful around Greek Row. Us different ones can sometimes get targeted by immature Greeks," warned Zeke, already taking a liking to Gabriella. "Trust me, I know. As soon as my own frat brothers realized that I have a real passion for cooking and baking they hazed me pretty bad while I was pledging, I guess to see if I'd drop out or man up. I came close to dropping but showed them by pushing through it, glad though that I had my friends there with me."_

_"Is cooking and baking supposed to be a drawback or something? I think that's pretty cool," replied Gabriella. "My favorite things to cook though are my mom's recipes."_

_"Not a drawback but I guess it's considered girly or something, no offense. Maybe we should get together sometime and share cooking dishes or something along with studying," suggested Zeke, curious as to why the friendly light that shined in those brown orbs of hers disappeared so quickly. "Or not, we totally don't have to Gabriella."_

_Gabriella shook her head, trying to put a smile on her face again as she said, "It's not that I don't want to but I don't want you getting the wrong impression. I'm not really into dating guys at the moment."_

_The light bulb turned on nice and bright in Zeke's head as he realized she thought he was making a pass at her. "No no, that's not what I meant. I was suggesting we just hang out as friends. You just seem cool is all, a down to earth girl on Greek Row as far as I can tell and that's rare. That's cool too that you swing that way."_

_This time it was Gabriella's turn to be confused until she replayed what she said again with his words and realized that Zeke thought she was a lesbian. Her sudden giggle puzzled Zeke again until she explained. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to laugh but I'm not a lesbian or bisexual although I have no problem with anyone who is either. I just, it's a long story but I just am not into the dating scene. I'm here at college to learn, get my degree, and get a good job, not see how many guys I can collect to rival my collection of shoes."_

_Laughter burst forth from Zeke's lips as he shook his head. "I can already tell I'm going to really like getting to know you better as a friend Gabriella. Do I even want to know how many pairs of shoes you own?"_

_Gabriella though, quickly calculating the shoes in her dorm room and back at home in New Mexico. "I'd say no more than ten."_

_Zeke's jaw practically hit the floor, pulling it back up only to chuckle again. "I think I have more tennis shoes than you do shoes all together. Maybe I am a girl after all."_

_"Shut up Zeke," giggled Gabriella, rolling her eyes. "I think I'm going to like hanging out with you too."_

_"Cool. Well, can I write my cell number down for you somewhere, that way you can choose to call me or not? No pressure or anything," stated Zeke, watching as Gabriella turned around and grabbed a sticky note and a pen. He quickly wrote his full name out and his number before handing it back to her. "I guess I'll see you around?"_

_"Well, you do know where I work," teased Gabriella, smiling as Zeke blushed a little._

_"Yo Baylor, what's the hang up?" called out Chad, alerting Zeke that it was probably his turn to play again. _

_"Nice meeting you Gabs," said Zeke before turning and running back to where Chad was waiting to start a new one on one game with him. _

"Earth to Zeke, over!" yelled Gabriella, waving a hand in front of her best friend's face.

Zeke blinked a few times, shaking his head as he saw Gabriella curiously looking at him. "Sorry Gabs, standing out here at a pledge event kind of reminded me of when I first met you freshman year, three years ago, when you were just a little freshman pledge of Kappa Phi Sigma."

Gabriella groaned, not at the memory of meeting Zeke for she always considered that to be one of her better days here at college, but at the memory of the whole pledging experience. "Please don't remind me of that sorry time in my life. Also, Zeke, you know I love you like a true brother but your math seriously stinks. We've only known each other for two years and maybe a month or so."

"No, it's three!" argued Zeke, counting back in his head.

With a final shake of her head, Gabriella replied, "Nope. As you said, I was a freshman. You are a year older which means you were a sophomore. You are now a senior, that's two years."

After thinking about it some, Zeke nodded his head, realizing a bit ashamedly that she was right. "All right, fine, brainiac, it's two years. You trip me up though because you should be a junior in all intents and purposes but are graduating with me which makes technically makes you a senior. If you were a real senior, it would be three years but since you are a genius I guess it is two years. Happy?"

"Very," returned Gabriella, a bit smugly. She squealed moments later as she felt her feet leave the sandy beach they were standing on, cursing her petite form as Zeke scooped her up and carried her over to the ocean's edge.

"Want to take that tone back Gabs? I'm not afraid of tossing you into this dark, cold water," threatened Zeke, chuckling as he felt her squirm in his hold.

"Do it and I'll get Sharpay after you," countered Gabriella, relieved as Zeke took a few steps back and gently put her back down on the beach.

"Why do you always have to bring that Ice Queen into things like this?" questioned Zeke, showing his known fear of the wrath of Gabriella's blonde best friend. "You spoil my fun!"

"And that dear Zeke is why," chimed Gabriella, jumping a little as a fog horn went off just yards away, turning both of their heads to the activity at hand. "I really don't miss having to do these stupid pledge events myself, joined or not."

Zeke just nodded his head, watching as the Kappa Phi Sigma and Zeta Theta Mu pledges took off in bikinis and trunks in coed pairs with one blowup raft between each pair to swim out together and reach the distant buoy only to come back. Once back on the beach they'd be expected to each take a shot of vodka before having to do the whole process again. He shivered as some of the cold coast air breezed over his body, making him cold even through his long sleeved Zeta Theta Mu shirt and jeans. "Shit it's cold," he complained.

"Imagine how the poor new members feel," said Gabriella, shaking her head as she watched the group of college students out in the ocean. 'Again, not one with the whole Greek life way of living or viewing things.'

"Funny how some things never change. I remember how much you disliked these things when you were new to the Greek system, TWO years ago and yet you still don't," commented Zeke.

"It's only because she's too smart for her own good," teased Sharpay as she, Taylor, and Chad approached Zeke and Gabriella. "Hey you two."

"Hey Shar," greeted Gabriella. "Tay and Chad, using this as a date night?"

Chad's eyes lit up. "Does this really count as one?"

"Eww, no! Talk about a cheap date!" protested Taylor.

"Seriously?" Chad asked in disbelief.

"Yes Chad. Watching our new members together get drunk and hopefully not drown while supposedly learning how to work with each other and starting this sister/brother bond between the organizations definitely does not count as a date Chad!" exclaimed Taylor, letting out an exasperated sigh, much to Chad's disappointment.

All five turned their attention back to the dark ocean water, squinting their eyes a little in the darkness of the night to see where everyone was, Gabriella doing a count in her head to make sure she saw the same number of heads in the water coming back as she did going in. These type of events always made her nervous as she was never one for hazing and certainly not humiliating hazing as this would be in the third and final round out when new members would get a bit less controlled in their movements and working together. Her eyes were drawn from the ocean to a group of the more elite members of both the fraternity and sorority who were standing near the main bonfire, Troy being one of them. She noted how at ease he was at events like this, comfortable with not only what was going on but having two sorority girls hanging on him, each with an arm through his, one even laying her head on his shoulder. Gabriella laughed though as he broke contact with both of them suddenly as the first pair of new members came in, seeing the two brunettes almost fall over without him standing there any longer.

Taylor, curious as to what made Gabriella laugh, followed her best friend's line of view and saw Troy leaving two of their sorority sisters behind as he went to cheer on the new members taking shots from the tables set up with other brothers and sisters standing there including Nicole and Jason. When she turned her head back towards Gabriella, she gave the brunette a look that made a guilty look appear on Gabriella's face for a moment before it disappeared. Taylor just shook her head, wondering what would really end up happening between Gabriella and the president of Zeta Theta Mu as it was clear to anyone paying attention that something would, it was only a matter of time.

"Tay, let's go hang out with the rest of the brothers and sisters at the tables. It's kind of all isolated over here," stated Chad, earning him a slap on the shoulder. "Oww, what was that for?"

Taylor gave him a direct look before tilting her head towards Gabriella. "Think lunkhead!"

"Tay, it's okay, I'm sure Chad didn't mean anything by it," soothed Gabriella, more than used to this type of behavior from the male population on campus, especially on Greek Row, even if they were friends.

"Sorry Gabster, I really didn't. I mean, if this is how you always hang out at these events, I could see how you wouldn't get all that noticed by anyone else here besides your friends. All the action is over there and you're here. Hell, I didn't even really know your name till end of last year when we shared that one class and then I started seeing you and Zeke hanging out together," said Chad, wincing as Sharpay took a shot at him, this time slapping him on the back of his head. "Dude, seriously, stop with the hitting you two!"

"Then stop with the moronic comments," retorted Sharpay, shaking her head at him. "Seriously Taylor, I have no clue what you see in him as far as a boyfriend goes."

"He's not my boyfriend," replied Taylor, stressing her second word.

"Yet anyway," piped up Chad, grinning at Taylor as he slung an arm around her shoulders to which she immediately pushed off.

"Not if you keep acting this way you're not," returned Taylor, causing Sharpay to laugh at the glare Taylor was giving Chad at the moment.

"I swear, things are always quieter before those three come over," murmured Zeke, causing Gabriella to laugh a little, seeing the three were too interested in another squabble to hear them.

"And to think you're crushing on one of them," joked Gabriella, seeing Zeke's eyes grow wide as he was watching Sharpay flip some of her blonde hair back over her shoulder before he met Gabriella's gaze. "Oh yes Zeke, I haven't forgotten. Just because you don't talk about it a lot and are more covert about it than most guys are, I can still tell when any guy checks out my best friend, making it easier when said guy is another one of my best friends."

Zeke's mouth went dry at the thought of Sharpay knowing about it. "You haven't said anything to her have you?"

"Course not. I'm not Chad," replied Gabriella, smiling as a relieved look crossed his face.

Another fog horn went off indicating it was on to round two officially, meaning the last of the coed pairs had taken their shot and gone back in the water. Gabriella looked over to see the pace of most of the pairs had slowed, whether it be by a shot adding to whatever they had consumed earlier at the BBQ back at the frat house or by pure tiredness. 'It is a Wednesday, I wouldn't blame them for being tired after classes, work, studying, etc.'

"Hey, did you guys hear about this big project Troy and Nicole are working on together? It's another joint event but is supposed to be a philanthropy thing. It's supposed to be some big idea that'll raise a lot more money than selling the usual lollipops and other stuff we do," Chad threw out, seeing shakes of the head from the other four. "Kind of surprised they are doing it instead of the Philanthropy chairs but guess it's big enough to warrant the special attention of the presidents of each org. Either that or Troy and Nicole just wanted an excuse to bone each other."

Before Sharpay or Taylor could make contact, Chad ducked out of the way, grinning as they both missed. "Oh don't worry, we'll get you one way or the other," promised Sharpay, pushing him sharply on the shoulder, making Chad stumble back and into the small incoming wave.

His loud protest as he hit the cold ocean water drew the attention of some of the other brothers and sisters who were standing around the shots tables, talking and refilling the glasses, including Troy's. He immediately looked over, worried that it was a pledge, relieved to see the big hair of his best friend instead, floundering in the wet sand now that the wave disappeared back into the ocean. Troy barely spared Nicole and the two other girls around him a second glance before walking over, seeing that it was Taylor, Sharpay, Zeke, and Gabriella who were laughing at Chad who was now just glaring at them.

"Here man," offered Troy, giving Chad a hand up, shaking his head as Chad immediately tried to wipe the wet sand off of his clothes.

"Thanks Hoops," replied Chad, giving him a grateful look before going back to glaring at Sharpay who Troy guessed was the one to push Chad in. "Blondie, I swear…"

"Swear what exactly Chad?" asked Sharpay, giving him an innocent look.

"Yeah, what exactly do you have in mind to say to one of my best friends?" questioned Taylor, giving Chad a disapproving look.

Chad groaned in frustration and threw his hands up. "Whatever, it's not worth this grief. I am the way I am, uncensored and all."

Taylor softened at this, seeing the true defeat Chad was feeling at the moment. "Come on Chad, let's go take a walk," offered Taylor, taking his hand in hers before they left their friends behind.

"Is it always that way?" asked Troy, curious as to what he had been missing by not hanging out with Chad with Taylor all that much.

"Most of the time," replied Gabriella, watching with a small smile on her face as Chad and Taylor walked further away from the crowd, Chad's arm now wrapped around Taylor's waist. "It's these sweet moments though that make it really special."

"So you are a romantic after all angel," observed Troy, smirking as Gabriella gave him an annoyed look.

"Are you kidding? She's like a hopeless romantic that's a bit closeted if anything," added Sharpay, earning a death glare from Gabriella. "What? It's true!"

"Whatever," muttered Gabriella, avoiding Troy's interested gaze that she felt trained on her at the moment. The wind picked up again, blowing the cold salty ocean breeze over them all, causing Gabriella to involuntarily shiver. Before she knew it, she felt the somewhat heavy presence of something being draped over her shoulders, looking up to see Troy now only in a t-shirt that exposed his muscular arms she could still see in the moonlight.

Cutting off any protest Gabriella was about to give, Troy just shook his head. "You're clearly cold and I run hot most of the time anyway. Put it on, I insist."

Shivering again, Gabriella gave him a grateful smile, knowing she would have to do as he said or risk really getting sick in this temperature out here. She slipped his blue sweatshirt with the fraternity's letters on it over her head, only to feel Troy help her pull it down, smiling at her as Troy lifted her hair out from under the sweatshirt. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, lingering there as Troy and Gabriella got caught up in staring into each other's eyes before Troy heard the third fog horn go off. "I better go, make sure the pledges are all safe and all in getting back in."

Gabriella just nodded her head, giving him a smile before Troy turned and jogged back to the crowd, finding herself unconsciously snuggled into the oversized sweatshirt that smelled just like him.

"And you said he would never be interested in you," Sharpay dryly said, smirking as she saw a new look on Gabriella's face that had appeared fairly recently, an expression she nor Taylor had ever seen Gabriella wear before. "I think that's the sweetest thing I've ever seen Troy Bolton do. What do you think Zeke? Zeke?"

Zeke shook himself and snapped to it, dragging his gaze from his best friend who was now shouting encouragement to the new members on their way back to look back at the blonde and then the brunette who was strangely quiet. "Yea, it was."

"See Gabi? He's so totally into you!" shrieked Sharpay, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

When Gabriella didn't reply, Zeke suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach, one that warned that Gabriella was slowly starting to abandon her quest to make it through college without any attachment to the male species. What worried him even more so was her first real attachment to a guy would be Troy Bolton, the last guy Zeke wanted Gabriella to be interested in for the high probability that Troy would just break Gabriella's heart as he had done so many times to other girls since their senior year in high school. Before he could say anything, he watched helplessly as Sharpay hooked arms with Gabriella and the two girls walked towards the crowd for the end of the event, leaving Zeke wondering what really was happening between Troy and Gabriella before he too joined the rest of the crowd to cheer on the second half of the pledge group now coming in from the water.

When the last pair came in a full minute after the second to last pair, Gabriella groaned, feeling ashamed to be part of the same sorority as the brunette who just openly snapped at the guy she was paired with, bitching him out for being too small and weak, cursing her fate for being paired with a loser. As Gabriella should have predicted though, Nicole quickly came to the girl's aid, wrapping a towel around her and soothing the new member when Gabriella knew it should be the male new member who should be getting the comfort. With a shake of her head, Gabriella turned her attention back on the Zeta Theta Mu new member who was currently getting teased by another new member.

"What a wuss! I can't believe you took that long! You are so never going to get laid by her ever," joked Tyler, laughing with some of the other members of the new member class. "God, you really are a pathetic mess!"

"Whitland, I think you just earned yourself a few laps out in that water for unbrotherly conduct. Go, five complete laps between here and the buoy now. The rest of you who were laughing, two for joining in," cut in Troy, stepping in between Todd Moore who was still shivering from the water, standing right where he was left by the Kappa Phi Sigma pledge. When Troy didn't see anyone move, he narrowed his eyes, knowing that the bonfire's flames would highlight his features just enough to show the pledges how serious he was. "Did you not hear me? NOW!"

Jason, seeing most of the pledges run off to do the president's bidding while Tyler seemed to stick around, came to his best friend's assistance and shoved Tyler in the shoulder a little, getting him to move towards the ocean. "You heard President Bolton. What are you waiting for Whitland?"

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Tyler, looking at the cold ocean water he had no desire to go back into. "It's just Todd and I was joking!"

"Do it now Whitland or face more serious disciplinary actions," bit out Troy, not seeing anything but the defiance that was quickly fading in Tyler's face.

With a gulp, Tyler just nodded his head and ran back into the ocean, starting on his laps. Seeing that Tyler was taken care of, Troy grabbed a towel from the table and handed it to Todd who gratefully took it. "You okay Moore?"

"Yeah, thanks President Bolton," said Todd, feeling ashamed that not only did he come in last but that he got humiliated for it too.

"Call me Troy and don't worry about it. You'll get stronger and faster as time goes on if you really want to. Don't let that idiot get to you all right? I think you have great potential to be a strong member of Zeta Theta Mu in the future," stated Troy, giving Todd a pat on the shoulder.

Todd just nodded his head, giving Troy a smile before walking towards the bonfire to warm up. Troy watched him walk away before he felt a pair of familiar eyes on him, looking to his right to see Gabriella watching him, a smile of her own on her lips. Troy just smiled back, rubbing the back of his neck a little as he realized he had been watched during the whole ordeal process, especially by Gabriella, seeing her smile get a little wider before turning and walking away with Sharpay and Taylor, glancing back one last time at him before accompanying her friends to whatever car they took to get to the beach. Moments later, Troy turned his attention back to scanning the ocean water to make sure the new members he had just sent into the water were still floating, some already returned from their punishment, leaving Troy's mind to deal with the new sparks of feelings he was starting to feel in his being that were definitely foreign to say the least.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Starlight was fairly crowded for the time it was, 9:23 PM according to Troy's watch, and the club's atmosphere was already pretty energetic thanks to the live band that was playing, Marshall and the Robots. His cerulean eyes scanned the crowd as he absorbed the energy, smiling as his body began to get swept up by the beats of the band who was playing more rock type songs than the usual crowd at Starlight was used to. 'Then again, that explains why there are so many more people than normal,' he noted, making sure to remember that for later.

After scanning the crowd some more, Troy eventually turned his gaze back to the two other people with him who were sitting down at the table they had scored near the dance floor for proper observation. Of course, Troy could only "observe" for so long before he'd break free but for now he was content with being where he was, grooving to the music, and making his mental notes. "You know, you're both pretty smart. I don't think you need to make it so obvious we are studying people here like that," commented Troy, causing Gabriella and Zeke both to look up from the notebook Gabriella was writing in.

"Huh?" asked Gabriella, momentarily confused by Troy talking to them. She had returned his sweatshirt to him, newly washed, when she went to the frat house and had made nice, easy conversation with him but since they had gotten to Starlight, Troy had been completely on another plane again.

"You look too studious right now to be a true club goer. It says, 'Regardless of how beautiful I look in my stylish yet conservative outfit, I really don't get out much and I'm only here for the schoolwork,' in bright neon lights," teased Troy, smirking as he saw a blush rise on her cheeks as he indirectly called her beautiful.

Gabriella felt the warmth on her cheeks and just shook her head, returning her gaze back to the notebook. "Whatever CP."

Zeke chuckled, proud of Gabriella for not letting herself get dragged into Troy's games. "Better luck next time Hoops."

Troy just rolled his eyes, returning his gaze to the growing crowd, grinning as he spied a blonde and red head who were obviously here together and were both giving him a once over. He glanced back over his shoulder and saw that Zeke and Gabriella were back to being good students so he decided to let loose for a little bit, knowing Zeke and Gabriella wouldn't really miss him.

However, as it ended up, Troy couldn't have been more wrong as Gabriella watched Troy move across the club, giving his famous Troy Bolton grin to two girls who were lounging at the bar. She barely held in a groan as she saw the red head flip her long hair over her shoulder in a flirty manner. "Why is it that girls insist on being so flirty with good looking guys who just want to get in their pants? And what is it with that hair flip?"

Zeke glanced up from the drawing he was making of their ideal layout for the club, searching the crowd for Troy and spotted him with Troy's arms freely thrown over the shoulders of both girls. "Some girls are just like that Gabs and some guys are just like that too, just going for the easy lay."

There was a tiny gasp of fake shock before Gabriella playfully shoved Zeke in the shoulder. "Why Zeke, you mean there is a common attraction between such type of people?"

"I think so, at least that is what Troy seems to be proving out there. He's a prime example of the type of guy I'd never want my sister dating, at least post-high school Troy. Troy is respected and admired in our frat because he is responsible and has a good mind for business but also because of his reputation with the ladies. That's hardly a secret," stated Zeke, watching Gabriella's face closely. "However, he was right about something tonight. You do look nice tonight."

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, looking down at the knee length black skirt she had on and the black cardigan she wore over a white tank top. "I don't feel like I'm all that special. Maybe a bit out of place with all the amounts of skin being shown out there," commented Gabriella, indicating the rest of the club with a tilt of her head.

"You don't have to show skin to be beautiful, you know that," murmured Zeke, chuckling as Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"Better be careful or Sharpay will indeed be pissed that you're hitting on me. I do believe she's coming here tonight specifically to hang out with you Mr. Baylor," Gabriella replied, smiling as she saw the bashful look on Zeke's face. "When are you going to man up and ask her out?"

"Umm, when I feel like it?" countered Zeke. "I don't have game like the others so I tend to take my time a bit more, use more caution as I am less likely to strike out that way."

"Like this big red 'X' drawn on the back of my hand?" asked Gabriella, showing him her left hand that the bouncer had marked with a red marker after determining from her ID that she was under 21. "Come on Zeke, you two have been flirting for at least the past year and I notice that progression you're talking about, but if you don't ask her soon, I wouldn't be surprised if she asked you."

Zeke grinned, thinking of the idea. "That wouldn't be so bad…"

"But oh so very unromantic," returned Gabriella, slapping him on the shoulder. "You would think after all this time of us hanging out together, sharing meals, cooking together once a week, studying together, watching movies and just plain old hanging out that some of my hopeless romantic tendencies the girls say I have would have rubbed off on you."

"Well you got me to study more if that's a comfort," offered Zeke, laughing as Gabriella glared at him. "And in return I've fended off all bad guys coming your way."

"Umm, what guys?" asked Gabriella dryly, making them both laugh. "Seriously, I think I'm glad I had two older sisters who showed me what could happen before it happened. I can recall the number of times I've seen girls around this campus mooning over some guy while they are in that special honeymoon stage only to see them crash and burn when the guy of their dreams cheats on them, breaks up with them, calls them fat, etc. Just not worth the heartache, the trouble."

Zeke arched his eyebrow at this. "And you call yourself a romantic? That was pretty jaded sounding to me."

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps I'm in love with the idea of being in love, all in theory. Not sure if I would feel all that romantic after having a guy break my heart in truth. When the time is right though, I have full confidence I'll meet Mr. Right and love will be everything I dreamed it to be."

"Oh yeah? And when exactly is the right time, hmm?" asked Zeke.

"No clue but it is definitely not going to happen until after graduation. I am so close to finishing college, I don't want to blow it," stated Gabriella, scanning the crowd again and writing down a couple of notes.

"Dating isn't a one-way ticket to end up like your sisters you know. If the guy who you date first ends up being Mr. Right, he'll help you meet whatever goals in life you set because he'll want that for you too. I mean, speaking as a guy, if I felt that way about you, I'd want you to give me a chance but still respect all your goals for life too," commented Zeke, smiling at Gabriella as she gave him a small smile.

"Yeah but you and I don't feel that way about each other which is a good thing cause I really don't want girl drama that sometimes accompanies dating a guy either. Trust me, Sharpay would shave me bald and make me wear her wardrobe all month if she ever caught a drift of you and me being more than just best friends. Instead she gets me ask me all she wants about you and you her without anyone feeling weird," explained Gabriella, returning her attention back to the dance floor. She happened to see a familiar brown haired guy moving towards the edge of the dance floor several yards away, Troy accompanied by both females he met at the bar who promptly sandwiched him between them as they all started grooving to the music. "Seriously, how can he be this nice, sensitive guy in one sliver of time only to snap back into the perfect role of Campus Player the rest of the time?"

"Practice?" offered Zeke, somehow relieved that Gabriella was still repulsed by Troy and his behavior. "Like I said before, Troy evolved himself since four years ago into what and who you are observing today. I'm just glad you see him for what he is, along with Sharpay and the rest of your girlfriends."

"Yeah," replied Gabriella a bit absentmindedly, wondering at the same time if the version of Troy that Zeke saw was the real Troy or if what she was starting to see in Troy lately was who he really was these days. 'There's just so many inconsistencies with his behavior. Maybe he's bipolar…'

"Is Miss Studious actually daydreaming about someone here at the club tonight when she's supposed to be doing schoolwork?" questioned Sharpay, leading Taylor, Chad, Ryan, and Kelsi to the booth. "Wouldn't happen to be the hot frat president who is surrounded by girls over there, would it?"

Taylor groaned. "Sharpay, lay off the poor girl. Looks like they are still working so save the harassment for later at least. We can come back."

Gabriella ripped her gaze away from Troy, who was indeed surrounded by eager females, as soon as his gaze connected with hers, feeling queasy all of a sudden. She vaguely heard Zeke telling them to stay, offering the rest of the empty half-circular booth that was just the right size for them all. When Gabriella looked across the table, she saw Taylor and Kelsi giving her a curious look while Sharpay smirked off to her left from where Sharpay was sitting between Chad and Zeke.

After saying a quick hello to everyone, Gabriella went back to making notes in the notebook, wondering what in the world was wrong with her. Gabriella focused on the lingering feelings of the place as the live band concluded, noting the shift in patronage and mood as the DJ came on. As much fun as the crowd had with the rock band, it seemed that a different atmosphere fell over the place, a sexual haze that Gabriella could feel already, seeing more coed pairs out there dancing versus the groups earlier.

"That's a very good point Gabs," commented Zeke, reading her notes over her shoulder.

"Thanks," Gabriella replied meekly before continuing with her notes.

About forty-five minutes later, after Chad and Sharpay brought back a second round of drinks consisting of bottled water, beers, a margarita and a cosmo, Zeke finally called it quits, unable to resist the pull of just having fun which had been nagging at him ever since Sharpay arrived. "Gabs, I think we're good. We have lots to go off of for the report and I'm sure Troy has more in his head."

Gabriella nodded in agreement only to shake her head moments later as she spotted Troy now in the middle of the growing dance floor between two different girls and without the crowd that had been eagerly watching him earlier. "I really don't think he's using the head three feet above his ass at the moment actually."

Chad overhead this and spit out the beer he was drinking, looking at Gabriella with wide eyes. "Since when were you so dirty and sassy?"

Kelsi beamed at her friend, glad to see Chad was finally realizing that there was more to Gabriella than he had given her credit for. "There's a lot you don't know about Gabriella."

As Gabriella closed her notebook, clipping her pen to the cover, she smiled at Kelsi knowing she too often got judged before anyone really took the time to get to know her. 'Well, at least she found a great boyfriend in Ryan who loves her for her.'

"All right! Now that we've had a few drinks and these two are done being bookworms, let's dance!" exclaimed Sharpay excitedly, clapping her hands.

Gabriella stood up, allowing Zeke to slide out of the booth, followed by Sharpay and then Chad as the others got up from the other way. When she went to grab her notebook though, Gabriella felt a firm grip on her upper arm, seeing the pink polished nails and knowing instantly it was Sharpay. "What?"

"Please, Gabi, don't even think of bringing that thing out onto the dance floor with us to take notes," begged Sharpay, misunderstanding what Gabriella was doing.

"I'm not, I'm leaving," explained Gabriella, wincing as Sharpay's nails dug a little into her skin. "Shar, let go."

"Chad, go buy this woman a drink!" ordered Sharpay before turning her flashing eyes on Gabriella. "You are so not leaving now Gabriella Montez or may God take away my no limit credit cards. You are however taking off that cardigan. It completely isn't suitable for here. How the hell did I not tag you before you left the house?"

"First, I can't drink, and neither should you be able to," replied Gabriella, showing Sharpay the big red 'X' on her hand, looking on Sharpay's only to see they were clear of any markings. "Wait, you aren't twenty-one!"

"I am according to my ID darling," sang Sharpay with a smile before getting back to business. "Come on Gabi! We never get you to come out with us and you need to let loose every once in a while. Please? Even Kelsi and my brother are here!"

Gabriella looked over and saw that both Kelsi and Ryan were giving her encouraging looks, realizing that tonight couldn't be too bad if they were here too. With a sigh, Gabriella caved, "All right, I fold. I'll stay, for a little while but I'm not drinking. I'm happy with my bottled water."

"Will you take off the cardigan?" prompted Sharpay.

"Damn she's stubborn," commented Chad, earning a laugh from Taylor.

"Fine, if you'll leave me alone after this," stated Gabriella, unbuttoning the black cardigan and taking it off, feeling almost naked as she revealed the white spaghetti strapped tank top that revealed some of her toned stomach before the top of her skirt started. "Happy?"

"Very," replied Sharpay, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the dance floor after tossing the cardigan into the booth with the rest of their stuff. "Danforth, where's that drink?"

Chad shrugged from where he was starting to dance with Taylor. "She didn't want one so I didn't fetch like your dutiful servant. No use if she's not going to drink it."

Before Sharpay could rip into him, Taylor moved so she was now dancing between the two. "All right you two, we are here to have fun, not bloodshed."

He merely nodded his understanding while Sharpay narrowed her eyes on him for a little bit, getting distracted moments later as Zeke began dancing behind her, their bodies becoming flush together. At the same time, Gabriella looked around her and sighed as it seemed like everyone was coupled up except her. 'Yet another thing to note for our report I guess…'

Out of nowhere, a pair of solid arms smoothly wrapped around her waist, startling Gabriella enough to cause her to spin around, her brown eyes meeting blue eyes that had caught her gaze several times that night but definitely hadn't been this close. "Troy, are you crazy? What happened to all your little Barbies?"

"Got bored," murmured Troy, leading the pace at which they danced together, his arms still around her waist. "Besides, you are my favorite Barbie of them all angel."

"Ugh, bite me CP," got out Gabriella, about to pull out of his grasp when she saw Troy's head dip really quick before feeling a sharp nip on the meatier part of her shoulder, near her neck. The stinging seemed to fade quick though as she felt a warm, wet sensation in the same spot, only to feel the warmth and tingles shoot down her body from that spot.

When Troy pulled away and saw the astonished look on Gabriella's face, he had to suppress the laughter that threatened to spill out. "Hey, you offered. Gotta say, you taste way better than I thought you would."

Gabriella stared back at Troy in shock, unsure if she was more shocked by his actions or by the fact that her instincts to slap Troy and push him away from her were tamed by the unfamiliar tingles that spread through her body, wherever he was touching her, especially at the place his mouth made contact with. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

"Sticks and stones angel," replied Troy smartly. "You know how I said you were beautiful back at the table? I think I was wrong. In that little tank top you have on right now, with all that tanned skin exposed, you look damn right sexy."

"Ugh, grow up!" exclaimed Gabriella, snapping out of her indecision on how to feel, suddenly feeling dirty by the hungry look he was giving her. She pushed out of his grasp, smirking as it was now her turn to see the shock on his face until he pushed it aside. "Not all girls are looking to be sized up by you like they are pieces of meat only to end up in your bed, adding to yet another notch in your headboard, before you forget all about them the next day Troy."

Troy chuckled at this, finding fired up Gabriella funny compared to her usual composed self but much more hot. "Sure they do. Admit it angel, you fantasize about being that girl. I know you even felt something just now when I licked your shoulder. In fact, I'm willing to bet you still feel the tingles I created throughout your body, right?"

She narrowed her eyes on him, unwilling to let him get this type of power over her. "Fuck you Bolton! You better go find yourself some girl that fits that description because that isn't me and you are wasting your time here with me when it's clear you only want one thing from a girl and that's ass."

Troy moved in an exaggerated manner to make it known that he was clearly checking out her butt before he straightened and said, "Actually, now that you mention it, your ass is pretty fine but I also like your fit stomach you always try to hide and…"

He was never allowed to finish that list as Gabriella's right open palm met his left cheek, leaving behind a stinging feeling. Not staying around to give Troy a chance to say another disgusting thing to her, Gabriella spun on her heels, pushing her way through the crowd on the dance floor to reach the table, grabbing her cardigan and her bag. She slipped her purse and notebook into the bag before heading for the exit of the club, slipping on her cardigan on the way.

After busting through the doors with such force it startled the bouncer, Gabriella cursed her luck as she felt the fast falling rain instantly drench her. "Typical…" she muttered before quickly walking down the alley towards the street.

Just as she reached the public sidewalk along the street and was about to turn the corner, trying to figure out the best way to get back to campus, Gabriella was spun around, feeling a solid grip on her upper arms, this time the fingernails not painted in pink. She stared into Troy's eyes, seeing an odd light in them that she had never seen before, despite the darkness of the night. "Let go of me Bolton!"

"No," he returned simply, shaking his head with his hair plastered down from the rain, securing his hold on her before Troy stepped closer. "You didn't let me finish back there."

"I didn't have to! It's a waste to listen to you when I know you should be reciting those rehearsed lines to some other girl who will let you take her home and lead you to her bed. Some girl who stupidly will believe you're Mr. Right only to have you leave her cold the next morning, ready for the next victim that next night!"yelled Gabriella, trying unsuccessfully to escape his hold.

"Gabriella, if you must know, I was going to tell you that I liked your intelligence and the fire you have about everything, including sparing with me! Those are words I've never said to anyone else. I think I actually am starting to really like you," confessed Troy, rushing out his words, knowing he was opening himself wide open.

Hearing what Troy said but especially seeing the vulnerability in his eyes, on his face, made Gabriella get those mixed feelings again. "No, you're lying. I'm not your type!"

"Maybe you are but you just aren't giving me a chance to prove it. Instead of me being every bimbo's Mr. Right, maybe you are my Ms. Right," returned Troy, watching as Gabriella struggled still in his hold.

After a little while of trying to escape but failing, Gabriella gave up, raising her face to the rain and letting it sooth her inner turmoil, well as much as that could. "Troy please, let me go. I'm not your type of girl, I know that, and you aren't my type of guy either. Also I have no interest in dating at this point anyways."

"So that's what this whole game has been about? Me not being your type of guy and you not wanting to date? I don't buy that bullshit Gabriella," stated Troy, fire creeping into his voice as he watched the woman in his arms struggle with everything he knew he was struggling with himself. "You feel something just as I do, stop fighting it."

Gabriella let out a sarcastic laugh, shaking her head as she finally straightened her head, looking into the intense cerulean eyes staring straight back at her. "Stop fighting it? Troy, you don't even know me. You don't know why I've never chosen to date before! And what little I know of you, you don't seem like the type of guy who is seriously into having this conversation with me with no other motive when he could easily be grabbing numbers from girls back there in the club left and right with little effort. I just, I just wish I understood who you were, how you can be this nice, sweet guy one moment but this player all the other moments."

This got to Troy, bad. This insight Gabriella had developed about him within weeks when people around him all the time for years hardly ever saw or understood it. Troy knew what had brought out this player Gabriella was now referring to, the beast that had taken over his life, and had given him the confidence to be around females again, ever since senior year in high school. Instead of opening himself wider though, sensing rejection on the horizon and not wanting to be burned again, Troy clamed up, his protective instincts blazing to life.

"Oh, that's just rich coming from you! I can't figure you out for the life of me! You seem like this perfectly quiet, shy girl who only cares for getting the perfect grades but then there's these glimpses of you I've seen, fleeting moments where I see the real passionate woman I think you really have been hiding all these years out of some fear! Maybe you're right Gabriella, maybe we aren't meant to be because hell knows I don't need this hot and cold crap at all!"

"Fine, then go back in there, live it up stud! I'm sorry you wasted so much of your fucking time on a quiet, shy girl who you just happen to share two classes with, who wasn't alive to you for the past two years until you just stumbled into my room one morning like the arrogant prick that you are!" shouted Gabriella, feeling the wildfire burning inside of her, somewhat nervous as to what it meant yet she still pushed on. Thinking it was over, Gabriella tried to pull away only to feel Troy's fingers tighten around her upper arms again, pulling her closer to her body and surprising them both with what happened next.

Troy didn't know what was driving him in that moment but a sudden urge to feel Gabriella, to taste her properly, overwhelmed him in those last few seconds as the passionate Gabriella came back out, revealing herself to him in all her glory. After quickly pulling her to him, Troy leaned down and captured her soft lips with his in a firm yet tender kiss that set his heart racing faster than it had on the court for a long time. He almost smiled after a few unresponsive moments when he finally felt Gabriella return the pressure, taking that time to slide his hands up her arms across her shoulders, up her neck and finally to the sides of her face, holding her there as his tongue licked at her lips, begging for entrance. Slowly, with some more coaxing, Gabriella finally allowed Troy past her defenses, both physically and emotionally as she wrapped her arms, now weighted down from all the rain now captured by her cardigan, around Troy's neck, raising herself on her toes so she could better meet his lips, exploring this new territory, this new emotion, these new feelings.

It was only when a deep throated moan came out of the depths of Troy's throat as he backed Gabriella into a nearby wall that Gabriella came back to her senses, remembering where she was, out on the street, in the pouring rain, sharing in what was technically her first kiss with a guy she knew logically only meant trouble. 'Then why does it feel so good?' she wondered before forcing herself to pull away, immediately touching her fingertips of her right hand to her poufy lips, knowing if anyone saw her then they'd know exactly what she had been up to.

"Gabriella?" he asked, his voice full of confusion and actual caring. Troy pushed back some of the clumps of Gabriella's long hair behind her left ear as she just stared back at him, feeling in the pit of his stomach what was about to happen. "Babe, no, don't…"

"I have to go, I'm sorry," whispered Gabriella, shaking her head, struggling to figure out what this all meant and how she had gotten here. "I'm sorry."

Unable to stop her, knowing that he couldn't, Troy let Gabriella duck out from under his left arm, watching her run away down the sidewalk, leaving Troy with his own tangled thoughts, feeling just as lost as he suspected Gabriella felt then. With a groan of frustration, Troy leaned back against the brick wall, lightly slamming the back of his head against it as he turned his head again to look in the direction Gabriella had gone. "God, what the hell is happening here? What's changed? What makes her so different?"

Knowing he would not have any answers standing any longer out here in the rain, barely hearing the distant rumbling above of the storm he was walking through as the storm he was living through internally was more than enough to block it out, Troy pushed off the wall and walked back towards the club, figuring it would be better to make sure that Gabriella's friends at least knew where she went off to so they could watch over her. After quickly explaining to the quiet girl with glasses Troy had recognized that Gabriella had decided to walk back to campus on her own in the storm, her friend and Sharpay's twin took off with a quick word of gratitude to save Gabriella from the storm and give her a ride home.

Looking around the club, feeling suddenly out of place with his water logged clothes, his hair sticking to his face and scalp, Troy decided it was time to go home, ignoring all the hungry looks he was getting from the women around the club. Not seeing Chad or Zeke around in the immediate area, Troy grabbed his stuff from the booth and headed out towards his car. He dug his hand into his pocket on his way out and pulled out the wad of papers that were now sticking together from being soaked, tossing away all the numbers he had been given that night into the trash before leaving Starlight. Wondering what had really happened in just one single night, Troy absently walked to his car. Troy began his drive home, going a little out of his way to make sure Gabriella didn't take any side routes that would have caused her friends to miss her, grateful as he drove that he never saw her walking along in the dark by herself. By the time he made it back to the frat house, Troy made it out of his car just in time to see Gabriella with her friends helping her into the sorority house. Fighting the urge to talk to her about everything and get her to answer his many questions, Troy let her go, knowing that both of them had a lot to think about. For if there was one thing Troy managed to figure out on the way home, it was that they both were in unfamiliar territory with least likely of people.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Gabriella woke up Monday morning, still preoccupied with thoughts and memories that had plagued her since she arrived back at the sorority house the previous Friday night. Kelsi and Ryan had found her a few blocks down from the club and insisted she get in the car to get out of the rain, despite how thoroughly soaked she already was.

Gabriella had successfully avoided Troy all weekend but she knew that she had to face him at class this morning at 9:00 AM. That thought alone caused her to drag her feet as she hesitantly went to get ready.

After showering and grabbing her jacket and backpack, Gabriella made her way out of the house and towards her first class of the day. As she walked towards her classroom, her arms wrapped around herself to keep warm in the cool morning air, Gabriella couldn't help but remember what had occurred Friday night. She remembered the way it felt when his strong arms were wrapped around her body, whether it was during their dance, or when he caught her outside the club, or when he had slid his hands from her waist up to her face as he passionately kissed her.

As Gabriella reached her classroom, which was relatively empty since she was a little early, she made her way to her normal seat, closing her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. She realized that for the past few days, whenever she closed her eyes, she was flooded with memories of Troy and could literally feel how good Troy had made her feel in such a short span of time. Even the tingles that raced through her body reawakened at the memory, causing Gabriella to snap open her eyes as she heard the classroom door fling open as a few more students made their way into class.

'Get it together Gabriella. It was a onetime thing. Troy was clearly drinking, was probably drunk, and probably went to hook up with some more girls after you left him there. That's how he is. Then why does it bother you so much?' she wondered, wanting to smack herself for the conflicting trains of thoughts going on in her head.

With a groan, Gabriella flipped open her notebook, pulling out her paper that was due that day and preparing herself for class. Hearing the door open again, Gabriella's eyes drifted towards the door, her breath catching in her throat as Troy walked through, his eyes immediately catching hers. Dressed in a white shirt bearing the logo of his favorite team and a pair of black Adidas shorts, Gabriella guessed he was planning on playing basketball at some point in the day.

Gabriella tried to ignore him as he stepped into the classroom, figuring he'd take his usual seat in the back of the classroom between a few of his admirers. She was surprised when she heard the chair shift next to her, her eyes glancing to her right to see Troy fling his backpack onto the table before sliding smoothly into the seat.

As Gabriella's eyes traveled up from the table, her breath caught in her throat as she saw Troy intently staring at her. Gabriella immediately tore her eyes away, nervously spinning her pencil in her fingers as she pretended to stare at her notes.

Suddenly, Gabriella felt Troy shift closer to her, her heartbeat immediately increasing. She glanced up at the clock and sighed, realizing she still had another minute before her professor walked in the room to begin class. She looked up and saw Zeke walk into the room, sending him a small wave that he returned as he made his way towards them.

"Gabriella," Troy began, his voice and demeanor much less cocky than normal. Gabriella turned her eyes towards him, shocked to hear him call her by her actual name rather than one of the many nicknames he'd grown accustomed to greeting her with.

"Listen, about Friday night, I uh-," Troy started to explain, stopping as the professor walked through the door and Gabriella's eyes shifted to the front of the classroom.

"Please pass your papers to the front of the class. After today's lecture, I'll be passing out another assignment, which will be due in two weeks," the professor stated, causing the sound of shuffling papers to fill the room as most of the students present began sending their papers upfront as instructed.

Troy sighed at the professor's interruption. He hadn't slept well most of the weekend. To the surprise of almost all his fraternity brothers, Troy wasn't his normal self at the parties over the last couple of nights. He drank very little and hung out mostly with the guys, pushing all of the girls who attempted to latch onto him off of him. His mind wouldn't rest as it raced with thoughts and memories of Gabriella. He had never been this confused before. He just wanted a chance to talk to Gabriella, to explain what had happened a few nights earlier and find out more about how she was feeling.

With a shake of his head, Troy pulled out his paper, passing it forward, being one of the last thanks to his preoccupied thoughts, before opening his notebook as he forced himself to focus on the lecture notes onscreen.

To anyone else in the classroom it would have looked like both Troy and Gabriella were avidly taking notes as they listened intently to their professor. Ironically, both Troy and Gabriella were doing the exact opposite, scribbling into their notebooks without really hearing what the professor was saying thanks to the numerous thoughts running through both of their minds.

As it neared the end of the lecture, Gabriella felt her eyes drift once more towards Troy as they'd been doing for the past hour. She wasn't used to this Troy she was seeing. The Troy, who she referred to as Campus Player, would never have willingly let her walk away Friday night. That Troy would have held her there, calling her nicknames as he spouted off various innuendos. This other Troy though, the one who she was sitting next to now and caught a few rare glimpses of, like at the arcade in the pizza place was very different from CP. What terrified her the most was that this Troy that Gabriella was beginning to see more of seemed to draw her in more.

Gabriella was startled out of her thoughts as she heard chairs scraping across the floor and students packing up. Quickly she followed suit, gathering her things and stuffing them into her bag before glancing to her left to see Troy's eyes on her as he packed his bag as well.

She saw him move to open his mouth, but once again he was interrupted by the professor. "Don't forget, your assignment is here in the front of the room. Be sure to pick up a copy of it. See you Wednesday."

Gabriella turned towards Troy awkwardly, the smile on her face not reaching her eyes. Picking up her backpack, she slung it over her shoulder before making her way towards the front of the classroom, grabbing a paper and slipping out the door before Troy had another chance to talk to her about a night Gabriella still didn't fully understand.

* * *

"No! Why can't they just admit their feelings?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as she shut the front door to the sorority house after arriving back from class, hearing Sharpay and Taylor yelling at the TV in the living room.

"Seriously, if she doesn't admit it soon, I'm going to steal McDreamy for myself!"

Gabriella giggled as she flopped onto the couch next to Sharpay. "You girls look like you're studying hard."

"We are. Grey's Anatomy is an educational show," Sharpay told Gabriella with a straight face, her eyes still locked on the TV.

"Of course it is," Gabriella muttered sarcastically, watching two interns sneak off into the break room during rounds.

Taylor grabbed the remote, turning the volume down during the commercial. "Everything okay Gabi? You haven't been yourself since Friday night. What happened?"

Gabriella sighed, slumping down in her seat as she glanced at the other two. "Yeah, I'm fine," Gabriella lied. "I just had a little run in with Troy on Friday night is all. Nothing new."

"I saw the two of you dancing. If I didn't know the two of you, I would have guessed you were there together or at the very least that you'd be going home together," Sharpay said with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, that definitely didn't and won't happen," Gabriella stated firmly.

"Like I told you before, there is so much chemistry between you and Troy. I don't know how you fight it," Sharpay added.

Gabriella immediately remembered that night. 'If only you knew,' Gabriella thought, wincing as she imagined the possible squeals that'd be emitted from Sharpay's mouth.

"You sure you're okay Gabi?" Taylor asked, picking up on Gabriella's silence.

"Yeah," Gabriella muttered. "Well I have to go grab some lunch and head to work. I'll see you both in a few hours. Enjoy your Grey's Anatomy re-runs."

"Oh we will," Sharpay smiled, turning towards the TV as the show came back on.

Gabriella shook her head in amusement, walking up to her room and putting some homework in her bag before making her way out the door.

* * *

Gabriella crossed the street in front of the gym, a salad in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, about to make her way inside for work. She paused seeing Troy standing near the side door, talking to two people she assumed to be his parents.

She frowned as she saw Troy lower his head dejectedly, the older man shoving a paper in his chest as he raised his voice. She didn't know what was going on with her but suddenly she was feeling sorry for Troy who was obviously getting lectured to the point of his own embarrassment. Feeling like she was intruding on something, Gabriella made her way up the steps heading towards the office.

After finishing her lunch, Gabriella walked down the hall to throw her trash in the trash can, jumping as she heard a basketball get thrown hard into the wall beside her. Gabriella tossed her trash away before carefully peeking her head inside the gym doors. Scanning the gym, she spotted Troy at the other end. Gabriella realized he was probably taking out whatever anger he had from his conversation with his parents earlier.

Quietly, she stepped inside as she saw Troy dribbling on the far end of the court, crossing one way before launching the ball up for a twelve foot jump shot, groaning when it missed to the far right.

Gabriella watched as Troy quickly retrieved the ball, groaning before chucking it at the far wall once again and heading to get another ball off the rack.

Gabriella picked up the basketball as it rolled towards her and made her way towards an unaware Troy.

Troy dribbled the ball a few times between his legs before taking an eight foot jump shot, groaning once more as it bounced off the rim and sailed towards the bleachers.

"Hey," Gabriella called out, stopping Troy from going to retrieve the ball.

Troy spun around to see Gabriella standing a few feet behind him, twirling a basketball in her hands.

"Thanks," Troy said, Gabriella immediately noticing the frustration on his face but noting the sincerity in his voice as well.

Gabriella nodded and tossed the ball to Troy as he held his hands out to her.

"I'm not an expert in basketball but don't you normally throw the ball at the basket?" Gabriella grinned at Troy, smiling when she saw a small grin tug at the corner of his lips.

"Yeah, that's usually how it works," Troy chuckled, dribbling the ball back and forth. "Sorry if I disturbed you at work."

"Oh, it's no problem. I was just eating lunch," Gabriella said, her eyes shifting to her feet.

"Damn, tell me how I get this job you have," Troy muttered in amusement. "You're in the gym, and you get to eat and do homework on the job. I could use a job like that!"

"Don't you have a job?" Gabriella asked, her eyes connecting with his.

"Yeah, but I actually have to work at my job," Troy smiled genuinely at her, causing a grin to appear on her face.

"Hey, I work!" Gabriella exclaimed in mock offense. "Like right now, I'm checking to make sure it's only students in the gym."

Troy glanced around, noting there was no one else there but the two of them. "Well, you're definitely doing your job there Gabi," Troy replied sarcastically, earning a giggle from her.

Troy smiled at the sound, enjoying that the two of them were having a normal conversation for once.

"Thanks," Gabriella said softly. "So where do you work?"

"Down at A Street Elementary. I tutor two days a week," explained Troy.

"Well see? You are doing homework at work. It's just not your own," teased Gabriella.

"Yeah, but it needs to be," Troy muttered, staring at the ball as he dribbled it hard a few times, the conversation suddenly turning serious.

Troy glanced up after a few seconds of silence to see Gabriella staring at him curiously. "Sorry to ruin the lighthearted conversation there. I was just remembering my conversation with my dad earlier," Troy apologized, Gabriella sensing the discomfort in his tone.

"It's okay," said Gabriella, brushing it off. "So that's who you were talking to a little bit ago outside?"

"You saw that huh?" asked Troy.

"Yeah," Gabriella admitted, watching as Troy nervously scratched the back of his neck. " I didn't hear anything," she added, hoping he wouldn't think she was eavesdropping.

"Yeah, they came out from New Mexico for a week. Mom has some business out here to take care of and Dad came along." Troy wrapped the ball around his back a few times, before motioning over to the bleachers. "Wanna take a seat?"

Gabriella debated it for a second before nodding meekly and following him to the bleachers. Normally she wouldn't voluntarily spend so much time with Troy but this Troy was once again drawing her in. She hated to admit it but she was actually enjoying herself.

Gabriella took a seat next to Troy, feeling butterflies in her stomach when his leg brushed against hers.

Troy set the basketball in the row behind him and casually leaned back in the bleachers as he glanced over at Gabriella.

"Don't worry about earlier," Troy began, breaking the silence. "I didn't think you were eavesdropping or anything. I didn't even see you there. I was too focused on trying to avoid the wrath of my dad. He says he came along to keep my mom company but I think he really came along to lay into me. He didn't decide to use the most opportune moment to lecture me though."

Gabriella saw the dejected look on Troy's face once more, realizing he was probably mulling over the earlier conversation.

"What'd your dad say?" Gabriella asked curiously. "If you don't mind me asking," she added quickly, hoping he wouldn't get offended, which would undoubtedly end in another heated argument between them.

"Nah, it's no problem," Troy said, taking a deep breath. "He got word that one of my grades is slipping so he stopped by to make sure his disappointment in me was well known."

"How'd he find that out? Your grades are only sent to you right?" questioned Gabriella.

"And my coach," Troy replied. "Coach and my dad have a pretty good relationship, which can be good or bad…in this case, bad. Coach called my dad to let him know if I don't get my grade up soon, I may be benched for a few of our pre-season games."

Before she could think of the words, Gabriella asked, "What class?"

"Microeconomics," answered Troy, his blue eyes darkening with worry as he thought about the class. "It's not that I struggle with it really. I just have been slacking off on a few of the assignments. Anyway, back to earlier. My dad came by to tell me that I need to manage my time better, focus on my grades and basketball, not all this other 'crap I waste my time on'. His words, not mine."

"Well, as long as you don't slack off in our class project Bolton," Gabriella said lightheartedly, standing up and taking the basketball from behind the bleachers before dribbling it a few times and walking towards the basket.

Troy laughed as he saw her awkwardly try to dribble between her legs, grinning at him before she turned towards the basket.

Gabriella looked up at the basket, about five feet away, and tried to remember the correct shooting form before taking her shot, watching as it sailed through.

She grinned hearing Troy clap from behind her as he stepped closer. "Nice form there Montez. Compliments to your teacher," he added cheekily.

"I don't know," Gabriella smiled, retrieving the ball and turning to face Troy. "I think I may have surpassed my teacher, as far as talent is concerned."

"Is that so?" Troy grinned, reaching over to swipe the ball away from her, dribbling playfully around her and making a seven foot jump shot. "Looks like you still have a few things to learn there."

Gabriella laughed before grabbing the rebound and dribbling back to the top of the key. She glanced over at Troy to see him nervously scratching the back of his neck, looking like he had something he was debating on saying.

"Listen Gabi, about Friday," Troy began, Gabriella realizing now why he had been nervous a few seconds earlier. "What did you mean when you said you aren't dating right now? Is that just because it's me or in general?"

Gabriella sighed, twirling the ball in her hands a few times, glancing at the guy beside her. "I haven't ever dated."

"You haven't dated at all?" Gabriella shook her head. "Wow," Troy muttered under his breath, looking back towards the basket.

"I know, it's hard for a player like you to believe that," Gabriella teased, earning a chuckle from Troy.

"How come you don't date?" Troy asked curiously.

"I didn't come here and pay this much money to spend my time on dates. I came here for an education," Gabriella told him honestly, tossing the ball to him.

"Man, my parents would love you," Troy commented wryly, smirking at her before making another shot. Gabriella smiled, watching in amazement as Troy retrieved his rebound before making a reverse lay-up.

"Hey Hoops!" called out a familiar voice. The two turned towards the front doors of the gym, seeing Chad standing there, basketball in hand.

"I better get back to work. Good luck with that time management," Gabriella said with a grin, waving at Troy before spinning around to walk back to the office.

"Hey Montez," Troy called out, prompting her to spin back around. "Thanks for the chat."

"No problem," Gabriella smiled genuinely, giving a small wave to him before continuing back towards the office.

Gabriella finally made her way back to the office, sitting down in the chair and pulling open some homework in front of her. As she sat there though her mind was far from her studies. Instead, it was on the brown-haired, blue-eyed guy currently shooting hoops in the gym.

Just a few days ago she would have never thought that she would spend time just talking with Troy. Gabriella never thought she would get these feelings in the pit of her stomach just by spending a few moments with him. But now, right now, she'd be lying to herself if she said that she wasn't craving more of it.

An hour later as Gabriella made her way out of the gym, she spotted Troy and Chad playing a game of one-on-one, playfully joking back and forth. As she made her way back to her room, Gabriella wondered what had caused Troy to change so much, from this nice guy he seemingly was a few years ago that she saw glimpses of to the player she'd met a few weeks ago. She knew that she'd be fooling herself if she said that she didn't want to spend more time with Troy. Suddenly, she was intrigued, and that scared the hell out of her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After a very long week of working his ass off at practices, making sure he made it to his job, doubling his study time, making the required appearances as the president of the frat, attending classes and project meetings, and getting very little sleep, Troy would be lying if he said he wasn't looking forward to the party that was now going on downstairs. 'A few good drinks are more than in order right now, that's for damned sure,' he thought, picking out a random plaid button up shirt that matched his khaki pants and tossing it on, buttoning the last button just as there was a knock on his door.

Not sure who would be knocking on his closed door with a party in full motion downstairs, Troy went over and yanked it open, feeling his mouth dry at seeing Gabriella standing there dressed in a blue dress that ended mid-thigh with triangular cutouts it looked like on the side that exposed her tan skin to his eager eyes. When Gabriella nervously shifted in her black heels, Troy nearly kicked himself for not greeting her properly. "Umm, hey Gabriella."

"Hi Troy. I know, I look like, well, totally not me. Sharpay unfortunately insisted that I come tonight and that she dress me up again. After a long week like this week I just didn't have the energy to fight her off," explained Gabriella, feeling very awkward in the present time. "I went by Zeke's room but he and Jason are both not there already and I was hoping to find a safe haven here for at least a little while longer. Did Shar, Tay, Kelsi, Ryan and I just come really late?"

Troy glanced down at the watch on his wrist and shook his head. "No, just on time, at least for the full party swing. Why don't you come on in? I'm almost ready but suddenly don't feel all that ready to get lost in the madness out there. I can honestly say I don't blame you for wanting a hideout right now."

Gabriella gave him a grateful look before stepping inside his room, suddenly feeling even more self-conscious as she realized she was in Troy Bolton's room with the door closed. Her eyes scanned the room, noting that it was a typical guy's room with sports stuff all around, mainly basketball oriented, with a few piles of clothes here and there. The double bed was actually made though while the shelves of books on the opposite wall were clearly arranged. "So this is where the famous god of Greek Row lays his head huh?"

Troy's eyes quickly met hers via the mirror he was looking at, running his hands through his hair to make sure it looked at least halfway decent after letting it just dry after his shower after another grueling practice. "Something like that. Guess we're even huh?"

"What do you mean?" asked Gabriella, feeling especially unnerved staring into his clear blue eyes in that moment, turning around so she could look around his room again.

Seeing Gabriella's almost bare back as she surveyed his room made Troy swallow hard, fighting to control the urge he had to place his hand there on the small of her back, feeling the fabric of her dress with his pinkie and his thumb but just the smooth skin with the rest of his hand. "Oh, well, just how I saw your room all those weeks ago. I think today is the first time you get to see mine. Is it everything you expect from a Campus Player?"

Gabriella barely caught the nervous edge hidden behind his words, wondering now if she was just imagining things. "Well, there are no condoms laying around everywhere and your room is relatively clean. I have to admit it's better than I expected."

"Score one for me then," replied Troy, smirking as Gabriella finally turned back around and met his gaze. "If you're planning on needing condoms though, they are in the drawer of my nightstand. Help yourself."

Before anything more could be said, Gabriella felt her cheeks flame, knowing Troy would see her deep blush and hating the fact she knew that Troy knew exactly what he was doing and saying to her at all times. "I don't think that'll be necessary but thanks for the offer CP."

Chuckling a little but also feeling pity for her, definitely an odd feeling for Troy, he walked past Gabriella and opened one of the glass doors that led out to his private balcony. "You look a bit warm. Maybe some fresh air will help?"

Grateful for the save Troy had just presented her instead of digging deeper into her embarrassment, Gabriella stepped out onto the balcony and breathed in the fresh air, closing her eyes as she allowed the night air wash over her. Her eyes opened moments later as Troy moved to lean against the brick wall beside her. "A luxury for only the president of the frat?"

"Hey, if you had to deal with all the crap I do for this position, a balcony is the least this organization could give me, trust me. This new member class that is going through, most of them are a bunch of punks who think they know everything. Jason tries his hardest to get them in line but I find myself having to step in more than I like to in order to ensure some of those whelps understand exactly who they are," stated Troy, feeling Gabriella's eyes studying him. "I know, I'm a jerk but some of them deserve it, trust me."

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders lightly, turning her gaze back to Greek Row where it seemed even more people were coming for the party. "I'm sure you have your reasons. I know I'm just glad I have no position myself within the sorority. That's a lot of responsibility for an organization I don't think I really am a part of anyway, well not really."

Troy tilted his head a little, looking for any ounce of regret or sadness over this, surprised he didn't see any. "Is that why you hide away from parties like this, hug the outside perimeters at events, and try to keep invisible anytime you are on Greek Row?"

"So you noticed," remarked Gabriella, feeling her stomach twist at the thought of Troy really having seen her and her habits, knowing Troy was always with other people, especially girls, at things like this. "Didn't realize you were watching me all this time CP."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Troy decided it wouldn't hurt to be honest. "Truth? I just started noticing you this year and ever since that morning I walked into your room all those weeks ago, I can't help but notice you, no matter where we are. You really do look beautiful tonight angel."

Mesmerized by Troy's words, Gabriella didn't even notice that Troy had stepped closer to her until she felt his index finger gently tilt her head up from under her chin so their eyes met. "You don't have to lie to me Troy," she murmured, feeling anything but beautiful in a dress that belonged to Taylor that exposed way too much skin for her personal style. "I mean, I know for sure you didn't truly see me before at things but about the last part you said."

"Clearly you don't see the beauty I see whenever I look at you then, both the outer sexiness you have and the sweetness in you," commented Troy, disturbed in some ways that Gabriella thought so little of herself. Wanting Gabriella to realize that his attraction to her was real, Troy closed the gap between their lips without a second thought, his hands gripping Gabriella's petite waist where the side cutouts were, savoring the little electric shocks he got as his fingers glided across the bare skin of her back.

Knowing somewhere in her mind that there was a good chance Troy was just playing with her mind while a larger part of Gabriella wanted to just enjoy this feeling again after the torment over what this all meant all this last week, Gabriella allowed her arms to naturally rise up so her hands could hook together behind Troy's neck, brining him closer to her as she felt his arms pull her more snugly against his body.

"Yo, President Bolton! You in here bud? The party is in full motion and the ladies are all asking where their favorite man is. Troy?" called out Jason, his voice reaching the couple out on the balcony like a splash of ice cold water.

Immediately Gabriella dropped her arms to her sides as she distanced herself from Troy, breaking his hold on her too. 'My God, did I just kiss Troy again?' thought Gabriella, knowing Troy must see the panic in her eyes as he stared back at her. 'Stupid, stupid Gabriella! As much as you think Troy is this different person, he still is that other guy that pleasures all those girls downstairs who are all probably fighting over him right now. What in the world could he really want with you when he has all that, huh?'

"There you are Troy! What's taking so…" started Jason, stepping out onto the balcony, smirking at Troy before seeing a feminine form in the shadows. "Whoa, sorry man. Didn't realize you already started your circuit tonight."

Troy clenched his jaw as he shot his close friend one of the dirtiest looks he could muster in that moment. Before Troy could say anything though, like telling Jason to get lost, Gabriella quickly stepped into the light, the expression on her face no longer soft but hard with resolution.

Gabriella's hard brown eyes saw the shock register on Jason's face as he realized who she actually was, the "first" girl of the night with Troy. "You can tell the next girl Jason that Troy is all free. Silly me didn't realize my time was up. Excuse me."

Groaning in his head as Troy saw Gabriella quickly leave the balcony, feelings of longing and regret swimming through his body, Troy made a move to follow Gabriella out of his room before he felt Jason's hand on his shoulder. "J, let me go."

"Dude, seriously? Gabriella Montez? Zeke's girl best friend? Are you out of your fucking mind? She's hardly your type and Zeke will go ballistic if you even breath on her but I suspect if I was any later you would have done a lot more to her," stated Jason, still wondering what he had walked in on, hardly having recognized the girl who had frequently been in his room that he shared with Zeke over the years but never really paid attention to.

"Shut up Jason, you don't know what you're talking about," got out Troy, shaking off his friend's hold as he stalked out of his bedroom, checking out Zeke and Jason's room first before heading downstairs to scan the area for any sign of Gabriella, feeling the desperate need to talk to her.

Instead of finding the brunette who had been in his arms only minutes before, Troy was instantly swarmed by girls from all different sororities. Frustrated with himself, with the situation, and Gabriella's continued running away from whatever they had, Troy felt himself change before his own eyes, his guards coming back up as his famous lopsided grin spread across his lips. With one arm now wrapped around a brunette that looked nowhere as beautiful as Gabriella, Troy reached over to the table nearby and grabbed a white paper cup with a Jello shot in it, downing it in moments followed quickly by another before Troy settled for just drinking a bottled beer, hearing his empty chuckle in response to something a blonde nearby said to him, pushing back the feelings of repulsion as the brunette snuggled into his side nipped at his neck.

* * *

After calming down as much as she could in a bathroom upstairs, Gabriella walked down the stairs of the frat house, experiencing the very foreign feeling of many male eyes on her as she went. 'Damn Sharpay and Taylor both for getting me into this stupid outfit.'

"Gabs, there you are. We thought we lost you," called out Ryan, walking with Kelsi's hand in his towards her.

Taking one look at Gabriella, Kelsi knew in a moment that something had happened. "Gabriella, what's going on? You look so pale."

"Oh, umm," fumbled Gabriella, trying to think of something quickly. "Just all the lack of sleep this week on top of long hours for classes, studying and work. Must be catching up to me."

Ryan immediately took her explanation but Kelsi's face clearly said otherwise "I totally hear you. There's some bottled water at one of the drink tables. Do you want one? I was just about to get Kelsi one," offered Ryan.

"Sure, thanks Ryan," returned Gabriella, smiling a little as Ryan kissed Kelsi's forehead before walking away through the crowd. "You definitely have a keeper."

Kelsi just smiled in return, knowing she was in fact lucky. "Yeah, I know. Not quite so sure how he is so polar opposite of his twin sometimes but I'm not complaining. I'd be worried if he got into a pink sparkly phase. So what's really going on Gabriella?"

Gabriella sighed, knowing she would be unable to hide this forever. "I'm just really confused Kelsi. He acts one way with me, more often than before but then I get these reminders via him and everyone else around that he's usually this whole different way and it just makes me so damned uncertain if he's putting up an act for me or for the rest of the world."

Without a mention of a name, Kelsi immediately pieced together who Gabriella was referring to, the only guy ever that got this into Gabriella's mind. "Something tells me that maybe the Troy you know is the real deal. Maybe it just took someone special for this side of him to come out."

"Then again, maybe Zeke is telling the truth, he knows him longer after all," murmured Gabriella, scanning the crowd from the position she and Kelsi were standing against. Gabriella spotted Chad and Taylor dancing together while Sharpay and Zeke were talking to some other friends a few yards away from the dance room. It was when Gabriella's eyes landed on Troy's sandy brown head among a sea of girls that the smile she wore moments before managed to slip away. 'Who are you kidding Gabriella? Troy has always been a playboy, one of his best friends has even told you that, so why are you so surprised he's moved on to his next round of victims?'

"Here you two lovely ladies are, bottled water," offered Ryan, giving both Gabriella and Kelsi the bottles while he took a sip of beer from his red plastic cup that was in his right hand.

Gabriella just gave him a grateful smile, feeling another odd pang in her chest as she watched Ryan casually slip his left arm around Kelsi's waist, seeing Kelsi instinctively lean into his side. 'Are you really silly enough to think that you could have what they have with Troy Bolton, the guy you have freely started calling Campus Player? Sure, he has a more sensitive side but that's not all he is. You seriously need your head examined Gabriella if you think that's the case because it's likely that Troy will never change, not just for some girl like you.'

"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Studious. I hardly recognized you dressed up in that dress and your hair styled so nicely. I didn't realize it was an early Halloween party," said Nicole, her voice cutting into Gabriella's thoughts causing her gaze to swing over to where Nicole was standing off to Gabriella's left. "Playing dress up huh?"

Acid filled Gabriella's usually sweet tempered mouth but she swallowed it, knowing that Nicole deserved some level of respect as the president of Kappa Phi Sigma, even though Gabriella thought in her humble opinion that Nicole didn't do enough to benefit the sorority as a whole and was in it just for the status. "What can I say Nicole? My best friends decided it would be fun to all get ready together and had their fun dressing me up. You know as well as I do that I would not put this on if I had full use of my free will."

"True. The dress fits Taylor so much better, I have to say. Good of them though to make sure you looked presentable at least tonight among all of our Greek peers. What's with the bottled water though? You're ruining all their efforts to make you seem like a normal girl instead of the uptight little individual you are," Nicole remarked, surveying Gabriella's overall appearance and admitting to herself for a quick moment that Gabriella really did look nice tonight. "You've got the look, why not complete it with an actual drink Gabriella?"

Had they been in the sorority house with no one else around, Gabriella would have let the words that so wanted to come out fly but, knowing how important image was to the sorority as a whole and not wanting to attract any attention to them, Gabriella bit her tongue again, instead just narrowing her eyes on Nicole. "I didn't realize there was a requirement to drink to be at this party not to mention encouraging minors to drink."

Nicole shrugged her tiny shoulders, smirking as she saw some of the other Kappa Phi Sigma sisters coming their way. "Come on Gabriella, let's all share in a drinking game together. It will be like a sisterhood event, a bonding activity. Surely you can't refuse that now can you?"

Gabriella was about to refuse but stopped when she saw some of the other sisters around, all nodding their heads in agreement to this new activity their president had just come up with. She looked around her and saw a set of worried expressions on Kelsi's and Ryan's faces before she looked over in the distance and saw Troy dancing between a set of girls, feeling her gut twist yet again as she watched his hands travel over the bodies of both girls at the same time, hating herself for wanting to be in their place. Knowing that she needed a serious distraction from the guy that was driving her crazy without even trying now, Gabriella turned her face so she was looking back at Nicole, the answer already clear in her eyes. "Fine, let's do it."

"All right! Ladies, let's make our way to the other room where I saw a few bottles of Vodka. A game of Never Have I Ever is in order!" exclaimed Nicole, following the rest of the girls into the other room before looking over her shoulder and glancing back at Troy who she saw was now watching. She winked at him before turning and joining the group of sorority sisters now gathered around a clear table with shot glasses all lined up and filled up already, Gabriella listening to the rules from her seat. 'Oh, this is going to be fun…'

* * *

After those first few Jello shots and a few beers, Troy was satisfied with the light buzz he felt throughout his body, knowing though that he could handle quite a bit more but again not wanting to really get wasted. Instead, Troy just kept his level of charm up, enjoying himself as he hung out with his fraternity brothers, his best friends, and the many girls who were constantly by his side tonight. 'Damn, I nearly forgot how wonderful it feels being this free at things like this!'

It wasn't until hours later when Troy's buzz instantly faded, seeing a flash of a familiar brunette in the arms of one of Troy's best friends. 'What the hell?' he exclaimed in his head, immediately losing the rhythm he had been keeping with the two girls who were sandwiching him, feeling the shaped fingernails of the girl behind him on his exposed stomach after having unbuttoned his shirt and the lips of the girl in front of him on his neck. They both protested moments later as Troy stopped all movement, his vision only seeing Jason's hands on Gabriella's swaying hips, on her naked flesh.

Without a second look at the girls he left behind, Troy began moving through the crush of dancing, sweating bodies, being drawn to where Jason and Gabriella were dancing together like a moth to a flame, knowing that Gabriella was becoming that alluring to him, even if he didn't really like to admit it. When Troy was just a few feet away, he saw Jason drop his face to Gabriella's neck causing her to giggle, ripping apart the self control Troy had tried so hard to keep as he journeyed to their side.

"Cross," Troy said, his voice radiating the venom he felt coursing through his veins now, his eyes narrowed on his best friend from high school.

"Oh, hey man," greeted Jason, flashing Troy a smile, keeping his hands on Gabriella's sides as she danced in his hold, not hearing the warning in Troy's one spoken syllable. "How's it going?"

Ignoring the question, Troy grabbed Jason's right arm and yanked hard so Jason's face was now within inches of his own, dislodging Jason's hold on Gabriella in the process. Troy felt Gabriella's curious gaze on him now but pushed it aside as he bit out, "What the fuck are you doing with her?"

Jason blinked several times, not understanding what had just happened. "Troy, dude, what are you talking about? I was just dancing with her and you already had her tonight. I thought she was off your list."

Troy swore, somehow even more enraged by this. "I'm not done with her all right?"

"Fuck, sorry Troy. I didn't know! You know I never would do that to you man. She just looks so hot tonight and is so sensual, I couldn't resist. She's all yours now, honest," said Jason, relieved when Troy finally released him, immediately walking away and leaving Troy and Gabriella behind without missing a beat.

"Where'd Jason go? He was fun to dance with," stated Gabriella, her brown eyes now trained on Troy. "So much fun…"

At her words, Troy's eyes narrowed, this time not out of anger or annoyance but suspicion. He saw a light brown haired head nearby and looked up in time to see Nicole give him a knowing look before she disappeared, the image of what probably happened earlier and what was going on now clear in his head. "Angel, how much have you had to drink tonight?"

Gabriella giggled a little, now looking at her fingers as she was trying to count. "Umm, several shots of Vodka, I suck at Never Have I Whatever, and, umm, two shots of Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Rumple Minze," he instantly corrected her, pausing when he realized how much alcohol the petite brunette had flowing through her body most likely in that very moment. "Shit Brie, how are you still standing?"

Gabriella just shrugged her shoulders, swaying a little before Troy placed two firm hands on her upper arms to keep her from moving too much more. "Brie? I like that name CP. No one has ever called me that. Does that mean I'm special to you? Different from the queue of girls who have been waiting for you? That I kept you from earlier?"

"You couldn't be any more different from the rest of them angel, even if you tried to blend in," answered Troy, his guard quickly slipping as he saw the true vulnerability in Gabriella's face in that moment. "Gabriella, do you want me to walk you back to your room so you can get some water in you and rest?"

She just stared at Troy, making him realize how out of place those words were coming from him, especially when a sexy, sultry woman was standing in front of him. Before Troy could say anything further, Gabriella launched herself towards him, wrapping her small arms around his neck before starting to sway with the beats again of the music. Instinctively Troy wrapped his arms around her waist while his body matched her rhythm, some part of his mind telling Troy that he was a fool to be letting this happen but not truthfully caring as her hips grinded right against his growing member, groaning as her small body began calling to his in the most intoxicating way. Her lips were currently on Troy's exposed chest, moving upwards as she continued to grind against him.

Throwing aside any reservations he had, Troy answered Gabriella's seduction with his own. He reached behind his neck and took one of her hands in his right, placing hot kisses along the inside of her arm, starting with her wrist, pulling her back up in the process as he continued kissing every part of her inner arm. Occasionally he ran his tongue along it, until his lips were on her naked shoulder, nipping at it frequently as Troy heard Gabriella's tiny moans of pleasure. It took all the control Troy could muster to keep from taking her then and there but he managed it, instead focusing on the new sensations he was undergoing himself wherever Gabriella made contact with his body.

When their lips finally met in one of the steamiest kisses Troy had ever experienced, all other thoughts he was having flew out of his head leaving behind only those about how wonderful Gabriella felt in his arms, molded to his still dancing body. Troy knew that she was the perfect fit now, out here on the pseudo dance floor, but wondered if she would be that perfect fit for him too in another activity. A grin spread across his face as he thought of the prospects, knowing Gabriella would give him an answer to that soon enough.


	10. Chapter 10

**Co-Written with cj10824**

_Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney!_

Chapter 10

Gabriella had experienced the pain of drinking a Slurpee way too fast in the seventh grade and had made sure each time after that she never ignored the sheer torture of brain freezes caused by sucking down the freezing cold contents too fast. She had also had her head hit with a volleyball in junior year in high school during PE and knew how much her head pounded and ached after that. Even now Gabriella made sure to stay clear of any volleyball game, even as a spectator. In freshman year in college Gabriella suffered one of the worst headaches ever when she went days without sleeping or really eating during her first semester's finals, realizing only after she had a good night's sleep and a good meal with lots of water how wonderful it was to not have that piercing pain that threatened most of her thoughts let alone studying.

All that combined was nothing compared to what Gabriella woke to the morning following the party at Zeta Theta Mu. Her mouth was as dry as the Mojave Desert, her throat too. There seemed to be a constant drill and jackhammer at work in her brain. The mere light coming through the closed drapes nearby nearly burned her retinas. 'Wait, I don't have any drapes in my room,' Gabriella groggily thought, instantly sitting up in the bed, wishing with all her might she didn't, not even feeling the arm she had knocked off her midsection in the process.

There was a stirring next to her and to Gabriella's horror she saw Troy laying right next to her in his bed, in his room that she had seen for the first time only the night before, with his naked chest exposed with the sheet covering the rest of him. Gabriella's attention quickly snapped to herself, throwing the sheet off to see herself dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts that she didn't remember putting on and smelled distinctly like Troy. 'Oh my God…'

"Good morning angel," greeted Troy a bit sleepily, knowing Gabriella was awake and probably freaking out before he even opened his blue eyes to see that he was right, the worried expression clearly on her face. Troy cleared his throat a little and ran his left hand through his hair, sorting it out a little so it wasn't so messy looking. "How are you feeling?"

"Can you not talk so loudly?" asked Gabriella, closing her eyes as Troy's voice tortured her mind just a little more.

Troy smirked as he recognized the clear sign that Gabriella was more than hung over, sympathizing with how much pain Gabriella must be in. Without another word, Troy got out of bed and grabbed a bottle of cold water from his mini-fridge and handed it to Gabriella who looked relieved to see he had on at least his boxers before taking the water and greedily sipping it down. "Hey, easy there. You'll make yourself sick again if you suck that down too fast."

Gabriella paused in swallowing the water, reluctantly pulling the lip of the bottle away from her mouth as something in what Troy just said caught her attention. "Sick, again? Did something…What exactly…Did we…ugh, be honest Troy. What happened last night?"

Seeing the door wide open for him, Troy walked right through it as he said, "Don't you remember angel? You were phenomenal, absolutely fucking fantastic and the envy of many girls last night, that's for sure. I think I'm hurt that you don't remember my performance last night."

Swallowing the brick that seemed to be lodged in her throat now, Gabriella's mind began to race, trying to recall any scrap of a memory of what Troy was talking about, panicking when she couldn't recall it. 'Oh great, your first time and you can't even remember?' exclaimed Gabriella in her mind, frustrated with turning up no real memory.

Guilt filled Troy as he watched Gabriella's tan skin get impossibly pale as it lost all pigmentation, swearing that she would fully bite her lower lip and bleed from the open wound as she struggled to remember the night before. "Brie, the way you danced downstairs, man, I know I was the envy of all the guys who watched you move in my arms like that. I had no idea you could move that way baby," added Troy, unable to let Gabriella suffer any more. "That is until you got sick after I dipped you backwards. Luckily I got you to the sink in the kitchen before you started throwing up all that Vodka and Rumple Minze that was freely floating through your body."

The use of Troy's new nickname for her trigged a new hazy memory to start playing in Gabriella's mind, causing her eyes to widen as she recalled clearly now the way her body moved with his, how much she enjoyed the friction between their bodies along with the numerous kisses they had shared. The memory though ended somewhere during the dancing, not remembering herself getting sick as Troy claimed but knowing it must be true since it was too odd of a thing to lie about. The massive headache quickly returned though, showing no mercy as her head began to literally throb.

Witnessing the pain etch itself onto her face, Troy went over to his mini fridge to get two bottles of water and then to his nightstand to get two pills from the bottle there before he returned back to the bed. Troy gently sat down next to Gabriella who now held her head in her hands with her elbows resting on her bent knees of her legs that were curled Indian style. "Here, take these. They'll help with that throbbing," promised Troy, placing the two pills in her hand before he watched her toss them back with the last of the water in her original bottle, seeing her wince from the motion.

"Thank you," she got out, keeping her eyes closed, wishing the pills would work faster. When she felt that everything was the tiniest bit better, her head still pounding but allowing her to think clear thoughts again, Gabriella opened her eyes and met Troy's steady ones. "So, after the dancing, after me embarrassingly getting sick, did we, umm, well, did we?"

Troy couldn't help but chuckle at the nervousness that came wafting towards him from the brunette. He shook his head as he answered her almost fully spoken question. "No, we didn't have sex last night, you can relax. After you threw up again in a bathroom up here you promptly passed out in my arms. Instead of trying to get you through the crowd downstairs as it was still fairly early in the night for the party itself I thought it best to let you just sleep it off. How you managed to last so long with that much alcohol in your system is beyond me. Do you even understand that Rumple Minze is one hundred proof not to mention all the other alcohol you consumed? I never took you for a drinker angel."

"I'm not," denied Gabriella, taking a measured sip this time from the new bottle of water Troy offered her as he did the same with the second bottle. "Last night, that was definitely a first."

"Well then you have my respect because you held it in like a true experienced champ until the end. From what I was able to gather you were playing a game of Never Have I Ever with some of the sisters and then took those last shots of Rumple Minze as a dare. I think we may have discovered a new talent of yours," expressed Troy, smirking as Gabriella began to shake her head only to still her motions and close her eyes again.

"How did I end up in your clothes?" questioned Gabriella with her eyes still closed. The evidence of her embarrassment over the current state of her attire clear on her cheeks that filled with a light pink. "If we didn't do it, how did I end up this way?"

Troy scratched the back of his neck, recalling how changing Gabriella out of her dress and into the first things Troy thought she would fit zapped the last of Troy's self restraint the night before. "I…umm…I changed you. I thought you would be more comfortable in what you have on compared to that dress. I thought about trying to find Sharpay or Taylor to change you but I couldn't leave you here in this room, on my bed passed out, alone in a house full of drinking guys."

Gabriella's eyes snapped back open again as the horror of Troy seeing her naked came to the forefront of her mind. "You saw me naked?" she squeaked.

It was Troy's turn to blush, his eyes not meeting her stare but finding the comforter they were sitting on rather interesting all of a sudden. "I did but only for a few seconds. I promise I didn't look, much, and I left your string bikini on too."

"Oh…my…God," Gabriella got out, mortification over being practically nude in front of Troy's eyes flooding her mind and body.

Quick to try to soothe her panic yet again, Troy volunteered, "Look, Brie, it's no big deal…"

"No big deal? Troy how can you say that?" demanded Gabriella, too outraged with his casual dismissal over seeing her naked breasts while she was unconscious to feel the pain throb through her brain that she would have felt otherwise from the sound of her own raised voice. "It's a HUGE deal to me! God, maybe all those girls you sleep with have desensitized you to the nude body but…EWW!"

Troy watched in puzzlement as Gabriella leapt off his bed, a clear look of disgust now on her face. "Gabriella, what's wrong?"

"Besides the fact that you saw me practically naked? The fact that I slept in the same bed that numerous girls have before, most likely naked, and I have no idea what type of diseases and germs they had especially because I don't know how many of them there are and who they are," stated Gabriella, not seeing the blue orbs that were currently watching her rant lighten instead of darken as they should have at her words. "Troy, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you spared me from becoming another notch in your headboard but, still, eww!"

His sudden chuckle stopped Gabriella's venting, making her eye Troy suspiciously. "You are too damn adorable when you get mad like that. First, I luckily changed my sheets yesterday to my second set because I usually don't make my bed and Chad was in here eating spaghetti at lunch. Needless to say the idiot managed to drop a huge glob of the sauce and some noodles from his fork onto my sheets forcing me to do laundry so technically, you slept in a clean, germ free bed with the exception of your own and mine. Second, I don't always have girls stay in my bed. Sometimes it's the floor or the couch or the chair…"

"Stop, right there! I don't need to know any more of what I think you are about to volunteer. I am currently too grateful for the fact that your best friend is a messy eater all the time to listen to your sexcapade stories. I'm also just glad I wasn't one of those girls you just described," stated Gabriella, this time triggering something within Troy that made his eyes darken a few shades.

"Would that have been so terrible Gabriella? Do you really not like me or my touch that much? Your groans from when I made those little marks on your shoulders and that one especially on your neck seemed to prove otherwise," returned Troy, feeling his pride bruised by Gabriella's obvious relief that they hadn't had sex.

The sharp retort Gabriella was about to deliver stopped behind her lips as Gabriella saw not only Troy's anger at her words but more so his hidden pain that was barely visible. Instead, Gabriella softened her words, reminding herself that Troy took care of her the night before when he could have easily just left her to the whims of a far less honorable guy. "Troy, listen, I'm sorry, okay? I'm very grateful to you for everything you did for me last night, taking care of me and caring enough to make sure I remained safe in a fraternity house where I could have ended up in a far worse situation than just sleeping in the same bed as you. And no, that's not so bad but it just, it is just a big surprise to me is all, especially knowing you didn't take advantage of me in probably the most vulnerable state I could be in."

"I'm not a monster Brie, as much as you may think it. I know I have a reputation that precedes me but reputations aren't always true," replied Troy, getting up from the bed and walking closer to her, putting his bottle of water on his dresser nearby. He took the bottle of water Gabriella still held in her hand and put it next to his, holding both of her hands in his in a relaxed hold she could easily get out of if she wanted to. "If they were, there's not a chance in hell you would have been at the party last night, having drank as much as you did, dressed up the way you were. I know you said that Taylor and Sharpay basically forced you to but the Gabriella Montez I've heard about likes being invisible, puts studying above all else, and detests the Greek life. Oh, and she also hardly speaks. Now I don't know about you but that sounds rather false to me in every way. I wouldn't use those words to describe you, that much I know."

"Yeah but most people don't see the real me, at least they don't make the effort to. To all those people like Chad and the rest of your frat brothers besides Zeke I'm just this girl who is part of the sorority but not really there. They don't know me. They don't know I can cook just as well as Zeke, they don't know that I work at the athletic center, they don't know that I'm graduating this year as a technical senior when I should be a junior," returned Gabriella, looking straight into Troy's eyes. "What do you see?"

Troy closed his eyes for a moment, searching for the right words that would give Gabriella the proper image of what he saw in her, what he wondered if even Gabriella herself realized was there. Upon opening his eyes, Troy returned her gaze and said, "When I look at you, I see an outer beauty that radiates sexiness, compassion, and confidence. What intrigues me though is your inner beauty, the strength that you have, the sharp tongue you use only when someone deserves it, and the passion you have about life. You seem to be a faithful and steady friend to those that are close to you and you are definitely one amazing dancer. From the study sessions we have had too I can tell why you are ahead of your class and graduating with us. In summary, you intrigue me Gabriella, in a way no other girl has before."

Gabriella couldn't help but stare at Troy as he spoke, his words surprising her, forcing her to wonder if he really did see all that or if Troy was just being his charming self. "Do you really think all that?"

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't," he assured her, running a slightly calloused hand over her soft cheek. "You make me feel so strange but a good strange when I'm with you. The closest I've felt like this was back in high school but even then, it still wouldn't quite reflect how I feel now. Tell me Brie, do I live up to my reputation?"

She gazed back at him, wondering exactly what she really thought about Troy now. "You do and you don't. I've seen you in action with numerous girls Troy, flirting with them, charming them. You've even been late to a group meeting because you were messing around with one. You have more hickies than anyone I know but yet, I see this other side of you that isn't CP, that is really smart and considerate, the man who looked after me last night when he could have easily taken advantage of the situation. Troy, you're almost like a puzzle or maybe even like a coin with these two definitely different sides. I've seen the hot, sexy womanizer but I've also seen the charming, sweet guy, both of which live inside of you. Perhaps the reason why I still react the way I do around you, with so much distrust sometimes is that I don't know which side of you really is real."

Troy studied Gabriella for a few moments, letting her confession soak into his mind. "I think you know who I am more than you give yourself credit for but you have trouble believing it because of what you've seen in the past, maybe even last night. As I said about you also applies to me though. Things are often not what they appear to be and you've seen something that not many have for many years. You've brought him out. Look, all I ask of you is to keep an open mind and decide for yourself which side of me is true. I think you already know the answer but are struggling against all the other stereotypes and things you've heard."

All she could really do was nod her agreement to do so, knowing that she owed Troy at least that much after what he did for her the night before. Suddenly, her head began to hurt again, forcing herself to close her eyes as she steadied her breathing. Troy saw the return of the headache and gently pulled her body towards him, wrapping her in his arms and letting her head just rest against his chest, laying a kiss on the top of her head. He ran a hand through her dark locks, untangling hairs as he went, knowing his instinct to do so were right as Gabriella instantly relaxed in his hold.

They stood there for minutes, neither saying anything as they just remained in that simple yet meaningful embrace. After some more time though, Troy heard both of their stomachs grumble, looking over at a clock to see that it was still early on Friday morning but not too early that the brothers who weren't too hung over wouldn't be poised to do what they always did the morning after a big party on Greek Row. "Gabriella, we should get something into your stomach. It will help you feel better. Do you have work today?"

"No," she murmured, her face buried in his chest, finding comfort in the beating of his heart and his intoxicating smell. "I have to call Kelsi to give me my key to my room. She has it as I didn't have a purse last night."

'Wise girl, locking up her room when she isn't there, especially on party nights,' thought Troy, reaching for his cordless that was nearby. "Here, why don't you call her room? Maybe ask her to bring some shoes or something for you. I don't think my tennis shoes will fit."

Gabriella picked her head up and gratefully took the phone, dialing Kelsi's extension. "Kelsi? Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, I was already up and getting ready for class. Are you okay? Where are you? I still have your key," answered Kelsi, relieved to hear that Gabriella was all right after disappearing the night before.

"Yeah, I'm fine thanks in large part to Troy. Can you meet me and bring my key with you before you head to class? Or is that too much trouble?" asked Gabriella, not wanting to make her friend late for class.

"No, not a problem. I'm ready now so I can head over. Should I meet you at the sorority house? Wait, did you say Troy took care of you?" questioned Kelsi, suddenly realizing what Gabriella had said moments before.

"Yes, I'm actually still here with him and we'll talk about this later, between just us. And, sure, in front of the sorority house works," returned Gabriella, giving Troy a confused look as he shook his head. "Why are you shaking your head?"

"Trust me, you want her to come here with some sandals or something. Actually I'll go meet her at the end of Greek Row on the South end while you stay here," stated Troy, a knowing look on his face.

"He probably has his reasons Gabriella, listen to him. Tell Troy I'll meet him there in ten minutes, okay?" added Kelsi, hearing Troy's words of caution.

Gabriella sighed, giving Troy a curious look. "All right, I will. Thanks Kelsi, you're the best."

"No problem. See you for lunch," replied Kelsi, hanging up her phone.

"She'll be there in about ten," Gabriella said, turning off the cordless and setting it down next to the water bottles before she looked back at Troy, some part of her mind surprised that neither of them seemed to be anxious about leaving each other's embrace, Gabriella's left arm still around his waist with both of his around her. "What exactly are you trying to protect me from now?"

A bit unnerved that Gabriella saw right through him again, Troy tried shrugging, cringing as he heard the distant chanting he was trying to save Gabriella from. Her ears instantly picked up the sound, hearing the words "Walk of Shame!" being yelled. Whatever color Gabriella had regained disappeared again as she realized exactly what her fate would be as soon as she left Troy's room. "Oh my God, what am I going to do?"

Troy smirked a little, thinking momentarily how cute Gabriella was in that moment before he answered. "That is exactly why you are letting me meet Kelsi and come back with your key and some sandals for you before I take you to the best breakfast you are ever going to have hung over. Consider it our first date, of sorts."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow at this, touched that he did care about her, more than she thought he did, yet a bit shocked at his high confidence level. "A date? With you?"

"Consider it my reward for watching over you last night," replied Troy, knowing she would agree after he used those words. "Besides, I want to make sure you have the best hang over remedy ever created besides some medicine and lots of water. Don't worry about what you're wearing either. It's far off campus grounds and is a small diner I found my freshman year after coming back from another college party somewhere else."

"You had me at 'best hang over remedy'," remarked Gabriella, smiling up at him. "Seriously Troy, thank you so much for everything."

"Thank me later once we've gotten you to feel better and I know it isn't the drugs talking," Troy replied, realizing that he had to toss on some clothes himself but enjoying the feeling of her arms around his naked back. "I better get dressed."

Gabriella too realized then how undressed Troy really was in that moment. "Well, umm, yeah," she managed to get out, instantly dropping her arms from around him, blushing yet again that morning, feeling only the drill in her head, grateful the jackhammer had stopped.

Troy chuckled before he dropped his arms from around her as well, kissing her forehead before turning and opening a nearby drawer for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Once those were on, Troy went to his closet and grabbed two sweatshirts, tossing an old East High sweatshirt at Gabriella who easily caught it. He pulled his own over his head, taking a quick glance at himself in the mirror and grinned as he saw a new mark on his neck, one that Gabriella had given him the night before. As he turned around to tease her about it, Troy stopped as Gabriella stared down at the sweatshirt in her hands. "What is it? I promise that too was cleaned."

Gabriella's eyes rose up to his, wonderment there in her brown orbs. "You went to East High too, with Zeke and Chad?"

"Umm yeah, why?" answered Troy, puzzled by her question. "You knew I did, didn't you? That I know Zeke, Chad and Jason from high school, some of them way before then?"

"I remember knowing that at some point but I honestly forgot, sorry," she apologized, slipping the sweatshirt over her head. "I guess I just didn't ever think about where you actually came from, where your hometown was. Who would have known we'd share the same?"

"Wait, you are from Albuquerque too? I don't remember you," returned Troy, feeling a bit foolish for his words.

Gabriella laughed a little, shaking her head a little, careful not to disturb the pain in her head that was getting a bit quieter, taking a drink from the nearby water bottle as she heard another round of chants going on in the hallway. "Well considering you haven't really seen me before this year I don't think you would. I actually went to West High, you know, the arch nemesis of East? Went there with Taylor."

"Oh my God, I slept with the enemy?" exaggerated Troy, putting a hand over his heart and making the best shocked look he could. "I slept in the same bed as the enemy…remind me to burn the sheets later!"

Gabriella just rolled her eyes while Troy found a clean pair of socks and put them on before slipping his feet into a pair of tennis shoes. "So how are we going to pull off this secret mission of yours, to get me out of here without having to suffer the 'Walk of Shame'?"

Troy grinned at her, standing up after tying his shoes. He grabbed his sunglasses laying on his desk and handed them to her to put on before he opened the drapes to reveal his balcony again. "Be grateful I have a fire escape rope ladder and the cover of one very large tree that is right next to the balcony. I'll call my phone twice when I come back so you can lower it back down."

"You're crazy, you know that?" replied Gabriella, smiling back at him.

"Perhaps but that's part of my infamous charm," he returned, opening the door and giving her one last look before lowering the ladder, climbing down, and throwing it back up before walking to meet Kelsi.

Minutes later, Gabriella heard the phone ring two full times without answering, interrupting her review of the marks Troy had told her existed, that he had left last night. With a groan, Gabriella pulled the t-shirt and sweatshirt back on, trying to cover up what she could before she went outside with the sunglasses on, peeking over the side to see Troy waiting down there, a pair of sandals in one hand. She tossed over the rope ladder before going back inside, not wanting to chance anyone else seeing her standing there, grateful it was still quiet out there.

Soon Troy was standing in front of Gabriella again, laying the sandals at her feet for her to slip on and handing over her key. "Kelsi said to say hello and to tell you that I score brownie points for even thinking about your reputation."

Gabriella laughed a little, knowing that Kelsi probably had a lot more to say but would lay that on Gabriella directly during their preplanned lunch. "Thanks," she murmured, slipping the key into one of the pockets of the basketball shorts she was wearing. "So I guess now is the time you sneak me down to your car?"

"You read my mind," he grinned back at her, taking her hand in his before checking to make sure he had his wallet, keys, and cell phone. Troy led her out to the balcony, checking around first to make sure there was no one in sight, realizing it was too early for a lot of people to be up and around, hearing a new chant reach them from inside. After quietly closing the balcony door, Troy climbed down the ladder first, spotting Gabriella in case she fell, lifting her down from the last few rungs and keeping his hands there on her waist for a few moments longer than necessary, letting go to toss the ladder back up. Looking around, Troy took Gabriella's hand in his as they darted across the lawn and managed to make it to his car parked a little down the street, hearing a similar Walk of Shame chant come from a neighboring fraternity house as the front door opened and closed to reveal an unfortunate girl who still wore a dress from the night before.

"Oh crap, Taylor's dress," murmured Gabriella as she buckled her seat belt.

"Don't worry, I'll drop it by later today. Now, let's get you feeling better and fed," replied Troy, starting his car and driving off to their destination.

A few hours later after a very nice, easy going conversation that allowed both Gabriella and Troy to learn more about each other over some of the least likely food Gabriella thought she would have ever ate together on a breakfast pizza, Troy pulled back onto Greek Row and parked. He ran over to the other side and opened the door for Gabriella, giving her one of his charming smiles as they walked together towards the Kappa Phi Sigma house.

They stopped in front of the walkway up to the house, Gabriella realizing she was actually reluctant to say goodbye to him now. "Thank you Troy, for breakfast, for taking care of my well being and my reputation last night and this morning. Perhaps you aren't as bad of a guy as your reputation says you are."

"Told you," replied Troy, smiling back at her. "You better get going. Make sure to drink lots more water today and rest. Should keep that pain from coming back."

"Yes Dr. Bolton," answered Gabriella, giggling a little as he rolled his eyes. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the gym like usual?"

"Definitely," said Troy, raising his hand to the side of her face before he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. "I'll see you later Brie."

A blush crept onto her cheeks as Troy pulled away, Gabriella feeling the warmth there before she saw his grin. "Goodbye Troy."

She reluctantly pulled away from Troy, giving him one last look before heading into the sorority house, knowing that she was walking through the front door with more knowledge than she had twenty-four hours before. Gabriella now knew what it felt like to be drunk and hung over but also what it felt like to be truly attracted to a guy who made her feel safe and better about herself. Gabriella still felt the confusion over the situation and what she felt for Troy but to her, it was that much clearer to her that she was actually falling for him, against her better judgment, somehow not all that regretful that she was.

As Gabriella walked up the stairs towards her room, mulling over these thoughts, she was unaware of a pair of eyes watching her from a distance. Nicole had caught sight of Troy and Gabriella talking yards away from the house before she witnessed Troy kiss Gabriella in that tender manner, feeling a mix of emotions travel through her body.

After witnessing the kiss, Nicole shook her head and walked out of her room to watch as Gabriella came into the house, observing the subtle change about Gabriella. Giving Gabriella one last look, Nicole returned back to her room before she could be seen, a sadistic smile on her lips as she picked up the phone.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was a little over a month until Thanksgiving break, which also meant that most students were dreading the midterms that would be taking place over the next two weeks and would soon be swamped with studying. But for the five students in the gym on Saturday morning, studying was far from their minds.

Gabriella had woken up that morning excited to go to work for the first time in a long time because she knew she'd be seeing Troy there. After everything that had happened from the day before, she was feeling a little less confused about the two sides of him that she'd been seeing and was hoping that today she'd see more of the side of him that took care of her and took her to breakfast the day before.

When she had arrived at the gym, she was met with the sounds of shoes screeching on the floor and a basketball bouncing. She had stepped inside and gone down to the office for a few minutes before making her way back out to the bleachers to watch Troy and Jason finish their game against Zeke and Chad. After Troy and Jason had won, Troy left the three to play a game of 21 and made his way over to sit next to Gabriella, immediately falling into an easy conversation with her.

"So, how's my patient doing?" Troy asked with a cheeky grin, bumping her elbow with his.

"Better," Gabriella smiled, nervously playing with her fingers as she looked back at him. "Thanks again for yesterday."

"No problem. Post-party hangovers and their remedies are one of my specialties," Troy boasted, causing Gabriella to giggle, ignoring the small thought at the back of her mind as to what other things Troy 'specialized in' at parties. Gabriella was trying to give Troy the benefit of the doubt now and not base her opinions so much on his reputation but rather on the side of him she'd recently been seeing.

"So tell me Montez, how come you aren't back doing homework today? Couldn't resist me?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes as Troy winked at her, nudging her again. "Get over yourself Bolton. Unlike you, I am pretty much ready for midterms so I don't need to be studying all weekend," Gabriella lied slightly, knowing there were more reasons why she wasn't studying, including the opportunity to spend time with Troy.

"Whoa," Troy interrupted, pretending to look offended, "what makes you think that you're the only smart one here? I'll have you know almost all of my free time goes to my studies."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him, staring at him with an amused look until he finally cracked.

"Damn, I almost was able to pull that off," Troy chuckled, grinning as a smile took over Gabriella's face.

"Yeah, like I would have believed that. Besides, I wasn't saying that I'm smarter. I was just saying I spend more time preparing in advance for projects and tests," Gabriella finished, eyeing him suspiciously as he scooted closer to her on the bench, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Just because I'm not spending my time on my studies doesn't mean I'm not putting it towards important things."

"Is that so?" she asked as Troy nodded, a grin tugging at his lips. "And what's more important than the education you're spending thousands of dollars for?"

Her breath caught in her throat as she felt him place his warm hand on her lower back before leaning towards her ear. "How about you, angel?" Troy whispered, his lips brushing against her ear.

Gabriella's heart sped up at his actions and words but quickly brushed it off, not wanting him to know his effect on her. Rolling her eyes, she placed her hand on his shoulder, pushing him back.

"Cheesy Bolton," Gabriella laughed, Troy joining in as he leaned away while leaving his hand wrapped around her waist, the action not going unnoticed by Gabriella. "Tell me, does that really work on all these girls you go after?"

"Of course," Troy answered, his thumb brushing lightly up and down on her back. "Besides, it had an effect on you."

"How do you figure that?" Gabriella questioned back in a doubtful tone.

"Well, from the way your breathing quickened and from this pink flush that appeared on your cheeks," Troy told her, his other hand reaching up to cup her cheek.

Gabriella felt her cheeks heat up even more and shyly looked down, cursing herself for letting Troy realize the effect he had on her.

"Hey, don't go all quiet on me now," Troy said after a few moments of silence, bringing his hand up once more to her cheek and tugging her face towards his. "I think you look cute with that pink tint on your cheeks."

Gabriella felt a grin form on her face and she knew she was still blushing as her heart began to race at the sensations Troy was causing in her. Not knowing how to reply, she let her eyes drift back towards the basketball court causing Troy's hand to slip from her face.

Troy tore his eyes away from Gabriella for a moment to follow her gaze, noticing her eyes were on Zeke. His eyes drifted back towards her as he heard her soft giggles after seeing Zeke score over Chad which led to a short trash-talking exchange between them.

"What?" Gabriella asked, noticing that his eyes were still on her.

"Nothing. So you and Zeke are close huh?" Troy asked, hoping to get the conversation between them going once more.

Gabriella nodded, "One of the closest friends I have."

"But you guys didn't know each other back in high school?"

"No, I actually met him my freshmen year one day in the gym. We only later found out that we were from the same area and went to rival high schools."

"So what made you come out to California for school then?" Troy asked curiously, not surprised that he wanted to learn more about this girl that had intrigued him.

Gabriella sighed, shifting her body to face Troy a bit more. "I guess I just wanted a fresh start, someplace away from home."

"You didn't want to be by your family?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, I love my family. But, being the youngest of three girls, there are so many expectations on me…everyone wanting me to do some of the things the way they did, but more importantly not make the same mistakes that they frequently did. I just wanted to go somewhere where I wouldn't exactly have that looming over my head."

"That makes sense. I get the whole having tons of expectations on you."

"Yeah?" Gabriella probed, suddenly curious.

"Yeah, my dad is that way with basketball. All through high school he was pushing me to be the best at basketball, so I could get a scholarship and have that future."

"So is that why you're here? A basketball scholarship?"

"Basically. Senior year, I started getting offers from various schools and I had some options for some bigger name schools but I knew at most of those places I wouldn't be getting as much playing time. I'm not exactly the type of player who can really make it in the NBA so I figured I'd go somewhere where I could play the sport I love and get a good education for whatever I want to do later in life. Plus," Troy paused, Gabriella following his eyes that trailed towards where the guys were playing, "I couldn't pass up the chance to play for four more years with these guys."

Gabriella smiled, enjoying that Troy was being so open with her. "Well, I think you made the right decision," she honestly told him.

"Thank you Brie, I think so too." Troy smiled back before leaning closer. "And I can definitely think of some more positives now that I'm here."

Troy leaned back a bit, his hand once again resting on her waist as her eyes connected with his.

"Hey Romeo!"

"What?" Troy hissed, glaring at Chad who had interrupted them.

"We're going to go grab some lunch. You comin?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in a second," Troy called back, glancing back at Gabriella before the two of them stood back up.

Troy stepped down to the court from the bleachers, holding his hand out for Gabriella who timidly placed her small hand in his while smiling gratefully at him.

"How long do you work till?" Troy asked, walking her back towards the doors that led to the office.

"3:00," Gabriella answered, feeling tingles go up her arm as Troy laced his fingers through hers.

"Do you want me to bring you some lunch or something?"

Gabriella couldn't help but smile at his thoughtfulness. "I'm okay, I have some snacks that I brought with me but thank you."

"You're welcome. Can't have my patient not getting enough to eat," Troy smirked, nudging her hip with his.

Gabriella giggled, looking up at Troy and leaning a little closer to him as they took a few more steps before stopping in front of the doors.

"Thanks for keeping me company today," Gabriella said sincerely, trying to ignore the sensations running through her body as Troy's thumb rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

"My pleasure," Troy said softly, his eyes glancing down towards her lips.

Gabriella felt her heart race once more as she saw this. Before she knew what was happening, Troy leaned closer, brushing his lips softly against hers.

Troy pulled back after a few seconds, smiling as her eyes fluttered open. "Bye Brie."

Troy took a few steps back, his eyes still trained on her as he slowly released her fingers from his grasp, winking at her once more before jogging back towards the guys who were waiting by the door.

Snapping out of her daze, Gabriella looked over towards where the guys were standing, her eyes connecting with Zeke's. In return, Zeke gave her a curious and somewhat confused look. Hoping he wasn't upset at her, Gabriella raised her hand to wave at him, feeling relieved as he grinned at her and waved back before following the rest of the guys out the door.

Hearing the doors shut, Gabriella turned around and made her way back towards the office, her thoughts shifting from the inevitable talk she knew she'd be having with Zeke to thoughts of the blue-eyed guy who was quickly making his way into her heart and consciousness.

* * *

"Come on Gabi," Gabriella rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her bed. "There has to be something exciting going on there in your life. You're at college, away from home!"

"I told you Daniella," Gabriella sighed, "things are great, just normal."

After finishing up at work, Gabriella had called her sister on her walk back to her room and had spent the majority of their now almost hour long conversation trying to convince her nosey sister that nothing was going on.

"Well I don't believe you. I can tell by your voice Gabriella. You sound a lot happier than normal."

"Thanks sis. You saying I'm a grump all the time?"

"No," Daniella's laughter rang through the phone. "But since you first said 'hello', I could tell you had a smile on your face."

"Maybe I'm just excited to talk to my sister who I haven't spoken to in weeks," Gabriella countered.

"I'm touched Gabi but I know that's not it. You sound just like Samantha did when she first started dating Thomas. Wait a second," Daniella gasped while Gabriella nervously bit her lip. "You met some guy huh?"

"No," Gabriella lied unconvincingly.

"There is a guy! What's his name? When did you start dating? Do you have a picture?"

Gabriella shook her head in amusement at her sister's quick firing of questions. "Daniella, I'm not dating anyone."

"But you don't deny there's a guy?"

Gabriella sat up in her bed looking towards the door as someone knocked on it, "Come in! Hold on Daniella," Gabriella said to her sister, covering the phone as Taylor appeared behind the door.

"Hey Gabi, we were going to go out tonight for dinner. You want to come?"

"Sure, when are we leaving?"

"Half hour?"

"Okay, let me take a shower and get ready."

"Alright sounds good," Taylor replied before softly shutting the door once more.

"Sorry about that Daniella."

"It's okay. You have to go?"

"Yeah, some friends and I are going out to dinner."

"Friends that are girls?" Daniella questioned, amusement evident in her voice.

"Yes, Daniella," Gabriella sighed, grinning at her sister's persistence. "Sorry we couldn't talk longer."

"Don't worry about it Gabi. It was fun catching up. We can talk again soon."

"Yeah, I'll see you in a few weeks for Thanksgiving if nothing else."

"Oh good," Daniella smiled. "Then we can talk about this new guy."

"Bye Daniella," Gabriella laughed, ignoring her sister's comment.

"Bye Gabi."

Gabriella shook her head, flipping her phone closed and tossing it on her bed before grabbing her things and heading towards the bathroom to get ready.

* * *

"Mmm, pizza…" Chad eyed the pizza on the platter that the waitress was carrying, his stomach grumbling as he watched the people next to them chow down on their food. "How long does it take to make a pizza?"

"Chad, we just ordered a few minutes ago. This isn't fast food," Zeke told him, his eyes still on the TV in the corner where a basketball game was on.

"I knew I should have eaten those chips before we left," Chad mumbled, resting his chin on his hand as he watched the game.

As the door opened to their left, Chad's eyes trailed towards the door, smiling as his girlfriend walked through the door along with Gabriella and Sharpay.

"Hey! Tay's here!" Chad said excitedly, causing Troy and Zeke to glance in that direction.

Troy smiled as his eyes connected with Gabriella's, who sent him a shy smile, the glance between them not going missed by Zeke.

After standing up to greet his girlfriend with a kiss, Chad made his way back towards the table with Taylor beside him, Sharpay and Gabriella following closely behind.

"You guys mind if they join us?" Chad asked, pulling out a chair for Taylor and helping her sit down before taking his seat once more.

"Nah man, it's fine by me," Troy grinned at Gabriella, getting up and grabbing two more seats, setting one between Taylor and Zeke for Sharpay and placing the other between Zeke and himself for Gabriella.

Gabriella smiled appreciatively at him before taking a seat next to him, not minding as Troy scooted his chair closer to hers and placed his arm on the back of her chair.

"So what brings you girls here tonight?" Troy asked, his eyes still on Gabriella.

"Food, what else?" Taylor piped up.

"That's my girl!" Chad commented proudly, pulling Taylor into his side.

"Can I get you girls anything?" The waitress asked as she stopped at their table.

"We'll have a supreme pizza," Taylor ordered for them.

"Anything to drink?"

"A pitcher of iced tea please. Oh," Taylor added, "can we also get a plate of breadsticks for an appetizer?"

"Sure thing, I'll bring those right out," she said, quickly jotting it down before making her way towards the kitchen.

"I think I love you," Chad said gratefully as he turned towards Taylor. "Thanks for the breadsticks babe."

"Who said they were for you?" Taylor responded with a serious look, laughing as Chad began to pout.

"I'm just kidding Chad. You can have some breadsticks."

Chad smiled widely, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You see guys? She knows the way to my heart."

"It would seem so," Troy agreed as he laughed, bringing his arm up from the back of Gabriella's chair to subtly wrap it around her shoulders, the action not being missed by the two other girls at the table who smiled knowingly at each other.

"So do you girls have any plans for after dinner?" Chad asked, smiling as the waitress brought the breadsticks out, immediately reaching for one.

"Studying," Taylor replied seriously, smacking Chad on his arm as he began to laugh.

"Come on Tay, studying on a Saturday night? I won't allow you girls to waste your night like that. You can hang out with us."

"Chad, I don't think the girls are going to want to watch basketball and play video games all night," Troy told him.

"That's cool, we can do something else."

"Like what?" Zeke asked.

Chad shrugged looking around the room and grinning as he saw a sign across the street. "Mini golf?"

"Mini golf? Why would you want to mini golf?" Zeke asked, looking a little confused.

"Why not? It'll be fun."

"Well last time we went miniature golfing, you got into a fight with those nine year old boys behind us," Troy reminded him.

"It was their fault for continually putting their balls into our hole when it was my turn," Chad defended. "They deserved me throwing their balls into the pond."

"At least you were the more mature one," Troy retorted, causing everyone at the table to laugh except Chad who was pouting as he ate a breadstick.

"Whatever man," Chad grumbled while finishing his breadstick. "Anyways, what do you guys say?"

Chad smiled as everyone nodded in agreement, his eyes stopping on Sharpay who wasn't looking too thrilled with the idea. "Come on Sharpay, we'll give you a pink ball. If you don't want to though you can just sit on the side and cheer us on so you don't break any nails."

"Bite me Danforth!" Sharpay retorted, glaring at him. "I'm in."

Troy gently pulled Gabriella closer to him, leaning closer to whisper in her ear. "Remind me to stay on Sharpay's good side."

"Scared there Bolton?" Gabriella asked playfully as he leaned back.

"Terrified."

Gabriella laughed, looking up at him, ignoring the curious looks she was getting from Taylor, Sharpay, and Zeke as she felt Troy place his hand on top of hers before boldly flipping her hand over and allowing her fingers to lace with his as their hands rested on his lap.

* * *

After filling up on pizza and breadsticks, the six of them found themselves across the street on the miniature golf course, each with a club and golf ball in hand.

"Okay, so for teams, how about we pair up?" Zeke suggested as the group stopped in front of the first hole.

"I'm with Tay!" Chad called out, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist and pulling her into his side.

"So Chad's made his decision. Troy?" Zeke turned to look at Troy who was standing next to Gabriella, his eyes drifting to his best friend as he saw her nervous look. Knowing she was debating between being on his team or Troy's, Zeke spoke up for her. "How about you go with Gabi and I'll be on Sharpay's team?" Zeke suggested, earning a nod and a sigh of relief from Troy.

"Alright, let's do this!"

As the game went on between the six of them, it was obvious they were pretty well matched. Taylor turned out to be the best of the girls which worked well since Chad seemed to be the worst out of the guys, even taking seven shots at one point on a par three, his ball ending up all over the place from the pond to the road to even the hood of a car in the parking lot.

Troy was the best out of all the guys which was expected because of his interest in golf back in high school but Zeke was also surprisingly pretty good. Sharpay and Gabriella on the other hand were both showing their lack of golfing skills as the two struggled to consistently putt well.

"No pressure there blondie," Chad called out tauntingly to Sharpay who was setting up her putt of about two feet. The game was nearing the end, and with only a few holes left, Zeke and Sharpay were tied with Chad and Taylor as they all trailed Troy and Gabriella by one stroke.

"Shut up Chad. At least I didn't fall into the pond trying to retrieve my ball that I'd hit in there for the fifth time tonight," Sharpay smirked at Chad whose shirt and hair were dripping wet. "Nice hair by the way."

"Still looks better than yours," Chad taunted back.

"Hey, shut-up and stop distracting my teammate," Zeke told Chad before smiling encouragingly at Sharpay.

Sharpay quickly took the putt, squealing as the ball spun around the top before dropping in. Sharpay glared at Chad, taking a bow before walking over to Zeke and exchanging a high five.

"Looks like we just passed you up Danforth," Sharpay smirked before following behind Troy and Gabriella who were leading the way towards the final hole. "And we're tied now with Troy and Gabriella."

"Not for long," Troy grinned cockily as he sunk a hole in one before stepping aside and letting the others putt.

After everyone had gone, including Zeke who also made a hole in one, it was down to the final shot. Gabriella was kneeling down on the green, eyeing up the long putt she was about to take.

She smiled as Troy leaned down next to her, placing his hand on her shoulder for support. "Looks like it breaks a bit to the left. No worries, we just need three strokes to win and this is a par three."

"We'll see about that. I haven't been able to get it close on the first shot all night long."

"Just focus. You'll make it," Troy encouraged her, taking a step back and watching as she lined up.

Just as Gabriella was about to take her swing, she felt a hand placed softly on her arm which caused her to loosen her grip and turn around.

"Whoa, hold up." Troy told her, stepping a bit closer. "Your stance is a bit off. Let me help."

"Hey, no cheating!" Chad called out, halting Troy in his steps momentarily before Troy chuckled and stepped closer.

"Okay, first thing is your stance is too tense. Relax a bit," Troy told her, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently kneading them causing her to relax. "Good but now your grip is a bit off."

Troy placed his hands down on the club on top of hers. "First, bring your hands closer together," Troy instructed her, sliding her hands a bit closer. "Now, softly put your right hand on top of your left, so the edge of the palm on your right hand is resting on the thumb of your left hand, with both thumbs facing downwards."

Troy picked up her hand that was tensely holding the club, bringing it up to the other hand that was loosely gripping the club. "Great," Troy encouraged her as she finished. "Now, keep your eyes focused on the ball, bring the club back slowly, and through!"

Troy led her through the motions, smiling as the ball trailed down the hill dropping in for a hole in one.

"Nice shot!" Troy pulled her into a hug, the two of them oblivious to the four pairs of watchful eyes that were on them. "Way to go Brie!" Troy said encouragingly once they pulled away before seizing the opportunity to kiss her softly on the corner of her mouth.

Gabriella pulled away from Troy's grasp after a few moments, going around to exchange high fives with everyone else and congratulating them on a good game.

As the six made their way back to turn in their equipment, Gabriella felt a hand tug on her wrist, pulling her back from her place next to Troy.

"What was that Gabi?" she was asked after being whirled around to come face to face with Sharpay and Taylor.

"What was what?" Gabriella asked innocently, hoping and praying that they would forget all about it.

"You and Troy flirting back and forth and then the kiss he gave you after you won," Sharpay replied seriously.

"I wasn't flirting," Gabriella attempted to protest. "And the kiss was just a friendly one on the cheek!"

"Nice try Gabi but I witnessed the whole thing. And believe me, the second we get back to the house, you are spilling every little detail. That little exchange was anything but friendly."

Gabriella shook her head in amusement, falling back into step with Troy who looked at her curiously before placing his arm around her shoulders and tugging her closer.

As the six of them made their way back towards the cars, Gabriella caught Sharpay smiling knowingly at her and Troy, causing Gabriella to groan under her breath, realizing she was in for a long talk once they got back to campus.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Gabriella eyed all the different fabrics on the shelves in front of her, wondering exactly how she had gotten herself into being in the middle of a fabric superstore. It had already been forty minutes but it looked as if Taylor nor Sharpay were close to being done picking out various yards of fabric and other items. To make good use of the time, Gabriella began running through terminology in her head in an attempt at making herself feel better for being here instead of studying back in her room, where she would have been if Sharpay and Taylor hadn't abducted her an hour or so ago.

Sharpay brought a sparkly pink fabric she found for herself over to the cart Gabriella was manning and saw the weary look on the brunette's face. "Come on Gabi! It's not like we are sending you to have a root canal tonight. It's just a Halloween party at the house but yet not just any ordinary Halloween party."

"Cause a toga party is just simply fabulous," Gabriella sarcastically replied. "I could easily just slip out before the party starts and hang out with Ryan and Kelsi. I know for sure they won't be at the drinking binge disguised as a toga party."

"But what about we talked about last weekend Gabriella? You clearly like Troy and I can guarantee that he'll be there tonight," stated Taylor, dropping another few yards of fabric, this time light blue, into the cart.

"At the very least we know you both are attracted to each other. You can't deny that," Sharpay added, giving Gabriella a look, daring her to argue. "But, if we are going to cement that and turn it into anything substantial, we need to implement a plan of attack starting with tonight. Bolton won't know what hit him after we are done with you!"

Gabriella groaned before protesting. "Sharpay, come on! Troy will be so busy with his usual harem made of sorority eye candy including our beloved president that he won't even notice if I'm there or not let alone have any interest in chatting with me."

"Perhaps but just trust me in this. With my vision of your outfit we will not only grab his attention but keep it all night long if you catch what I mean," promised Sharpay with a wink, a certain glint in her eyes that made Gabriella nervous.

As Sharpay quickly left to dart down another aisle, Gabriella gave Taylor a worried look which Taylor answered with a comforting smile. "Sharpay has the best of intentions, honest Gabi. Don't worry about it."

"Easy for you to say Taylor, you aren't being subjected to Sharpay's designs which no doubt will show more skin than I want. I don't even want to go to the party Tay," complained Gabriella.

"But you are starting to like Troy right? He will be there and so will Zeke. You also have me and Pay too," answered Taylor, patting Gabriella's right hand that was resting on the cart. "Troy likes you too you know. Chad blabbed that to me the other night."

An overwhelming feeling of being a junior high school girl with a huge crush on an older boy came over Gabriella, rendering her speechless as Taylor observed her. Before she knew it, Sharpay came back and draped yards of violet fabric over Gabriella's shoulder, her smile widening as she saw that the fabric she had picked was just the right shade for her close friend.

"Perfect, we're done! Now we just need to fix these up to have them ready for tonight," Sharpay announced, leading the other two to the cashier where they brought their materials before grabbing lunch and heading back to the sorority house.

* * *

Chad, Zeke, and Troy burst into laughter as Jason walked into the living room where they all were sitting on couches, each guy catching a beer that Jason tossed them. "What?" Jason asked a bit defensively.

Chad drank down some of the beer, eyeing Jason's Superman print toga that sat around Jason's waist and covered the entire length of his legs leaving his chest bare just like Chad's. "Dude, seriously? Superman print?"

Jason shrugged. "It's Halloween too so I wanted something fun instead of your boring white sheets. I mean, Chad, you look like you are just wearing a bathroom towel around your hips. Give you props though for going bare from the waist up like me though. Zeke and Troy you clearly wimped out!"

Zeke and Troy exchanged a look before Troy spoke up for both of them. "Zeke and I just wanted more traditional togas is all. There are all sorts of different styles J. At least both of us are just in white even if our upper bodies are covered including one shoulder. We don't feel the need to make all the girls swoon at the mere sight of us."

"We'll see who gets more girls then won't we?" challenged Jason.

"Excluding Chad of course," threw in Zeke, chuckling as Chad rolled his eyes.

"Please, I may have a girlfriend now but girls coming to ME still counts in this," replied Chad, liking the silent water being made between the friends. "Usual twenty bucks boys?"

Before Zeke agreed, knowing he would most likely lose as he wasn't big on wagering on female interactions, preferring to be more on sports, Zeke clarified the terms. "Restricted to just flirting right? Anything more to wager on would be too much."

"Of course, just flirting but the girls have to come to you. I don't think any of us are low enough to be betting on sex with a girl although we all know Bolton has the upper hand in any case," Jason stated, signaling his agreement to the wager.

Chad and Zeke both followed suit in agreeing. When Troy didn't say anything immediately, Zeke looked over at him and saw a strange expression on Troy's face accompanied by uncharacteristic paleness. "Troy, you okay?"

Troy snapped to it from the trap his thoughts and emotions had him in. "Yeah, sure, I'm in."

"All right, now we're talking!" exclaimed Chad. "Let's rock and roll boys! The evening is young and we all have to get busy."

At Chad's prompting, all four guys finished their beers and stood up from the couches, primed to have some fun at the Kappa Phi Sigma hosted toga party.

Immediately, once they were all inside the sorority house, Troy caught himself scanning the rooms for any trace of a particular brunette being present, feeling his hopes crash down instead as he saw many girls checking him out but no sign of Gabriella. 'Duh, you knew it was likely she wouldn't come. You know she hates these things.'

After grabbing a pink jelly shot and downing it, Troy snagged a red cup full of beer before making his rounds, the wager now on his mind as he did his best to give every female in the room his most charming smile. Keeping count in his head and also feeling Chad's and Jason's watchful eyes on him as he flirted his way through the room with only those that approached him, Troy didn't see Nicole making her way towards him until he felt a sharp nip at his bare shoulder followed by a hand possessively grabbing his.

"I've been looking for you everywhere hot stuff! Let's go dance!" she exclaimed, pulling a willing Troy behind her. He smirked as he passed his three best friends and flashed a double digit number to them using his free hand that left them all speechless.

"Damn, he moves fast," muttered Chad. "Thought we would have had him handicapped with his new fascination with Gabriella."

"Apparently he's not as into her as we thought," Zeke remarked, his eyes narrowing on Troy and Nicole who were currently grinding together out on the dance floor, her lips attached to Troy's neck and shoulder. "Where is Gabs anyway?"

Chad piped up again. "She's probably in Shar's room getting ready still. Taylor called me to let me know she'd be late cause of some costume disaster or something with two of their togas. Why they didn't just toss on sheets I'll never know."

"Cause they are girls?" offered Jason. "Does this mean that Gabriella is fair game again?"

Zeke was quick to smack Jason on the arm for this. "Don't even J! She's probably trying to sneak away from this party anyway knowing her."

Jason sighed, rubbing his arm a bit. "Fine but it sucks that Bolton always gets all the fun. Why are you letting him mack on Gabriella anyway?"

Zeke kept check of his growing irritation at Jason but mostly at the situation as he said, "I'm not letting him, Gabriella is. If I had my say this new little thing between them would be squashed. I love Troy like a brother but she deserves better."

Chad was curious now about what Zeke perceived as going on. "Define 'better' and what exactly is going on here."

Watching Nicole now lead Zeta Theta Mu's president up the stairs, Zeke shook his head in disgust. "Troy and Gabriella seem to be getting closer and more physically affectionate but he's setting her up. Gabriella deserves someone who genuinely likes her and only her."

"Setting her up? You don't think Troy is planning to hurt her somehow do you? He has no reason to and knows you'll kick his ass from here to Maine if he did," stated Chad, a bit defensive.

Zeke just shook his head, hating the gnawing feeling that had been quietly chewing away at him whenever Zeke thought of his best friend from high school making moves on his best friend here at college. "I just mean that knowingly or not, Troy is setting Gabriella to get hurt because someone like Gabriella will fall in love deeply and for a lifetime while Troy hasn't settled for any single girl since high school practically. You have to admit Chad that Troy as he is now is not boyfriend material."

The silence dragged on between the three friends as both Chad and Jason recognized the truth Zeke spoke. "All right, I admit that Troy is a bit more of a player than any of us but he's also been through something none of us have either. It's not an excuse but maybe that should buy him some slack, right?"

Zeke unknowingly clenched his jaw as he thought about the possibility of Gabriella really getting torn up over something Troy did to her. "He's had slack for the last four years. I'm sorry but best friend or not, if he hurts Gabs, this Wildcat brotherhood may be jeopardy."

"So Gabriella is definitely off the table for me then," concluded Jason, drawing both Chad's and Zeke's attention onto him before they both chuckled, their laughter dying in their throats as Chad, then Zeke, and then Jason spied Taylor, Sharpay, and Gabriella making their way down the stairs in the most elaborate togas in the entire sorority house.

Instead of just throwing sheets over themselves with haphazard rope, as most of the fraternity brothers had done and even some of the sorority sisters, Sharpay, Gabriella, and Taylor had taken extra effort in sewing, pinning, and tying the fabric that had been purchased earlier that day into three different designs. Sharpay's toga was pink with white fringe with a skirt that ended just above her knees with a tunic that ended an inch above where her skirt started. The light blue toga Taylor wore was like a strapless dress with a few yards of the light blue fabric thrown over her right shoulder, leaving her left shoulder bare with a silver rope acting as belt. Gabriella's toga was violet in color and was most like a sleeveless dress with three fake white flowers lining the top of the shoulders of the toga with a white and dark purple rope pulling the fabric in around her waist, two slits going up both sides of the toga to expose skin from mid-thigh down to the tops of her knees where the fabric ended. All three girls wore their long hair down, cascading down their backs in curls while there was a wreath of fake green leaves around the tops of all of their heads.

Chad's mouth went dry while Jason let out a long whistle, Zeke feeling almost as dumbfounded as them as Sharpay's light brown eyes found his in the crowd, giving him a seductive smile as she led Taylor and Gabriella their way. Zeke was enchanted by the vision all three of the girls made together but not enough to guise the sudden attention all three were receiving from the other people at the party, especially Gabriella.

He glanced around and shook his head, clearly frustrated with all the attention he knew would only be trouble that Sharpay, Gabriella, and Taylor were getting. When Sharpay and Gabriella finally made it to his side, Taylor already captured into a big hug and deep kiss by her boyfriend, Zeke made sure to wrap a protective arm around both girls, kissing Gabriella's temple before kissing Sharpay's cheek. "Happy Halloween Gabs, Sharpay. You both look stunning."

"Why thank you and Happy Halloween to you too. Gabriella over here was fussing so much but I told her she'd look fabulous," stated Sharpay, smirking at Gabriella who blushed, remaining comfortably in Zeke's half embrace.

"You all do look beautiful. There's no question as to who the goddesses of Kappa Phi Sigma are," Jason added, licking his lips as he looked both girls up and down before getting a hint and leaving after Zeke glared at him, deciding it was time to work on the friendly wager again now that Zeke, Chad, and Troy were all otherwise occupied.

Gabriella saw the look exchanged and looked at Zeke with questions in her eyes. "What was that all about?"

Zeke shrugged, seeing Taylor and Chad quickly moving towards the dance floor in the living room out of the corner of his eye. "Just a guy thing, don't worry about it Gabs. So, does this mean that I get to have you two lovely ladies all to myself for a few dances?"

Sharpay beamed up at Zeke, enjoying the feel of his hand on her hip, his fingers making invisible patterns on her naked flesh at her side. "Could be. I know I'm all yours for at least a few dances."

Zeke grinned down at the blonde, feeling ridiculously happy with this news. His grin turned into a frown though as he looked at Gabriella to see her anxiously looking around the room. "Troy isn't down here Gabs."

Gabriella's head snapped back towards Zeke, seeing in his eyes where Troy currently was. "Oh," she muttered, her hopes crashing down, the silent berating of herself starting again for thinking that the Troy who was present at these types of parties would really want to spend time with her when there were so many other candidates.

"Hey, let's go get some drinks and just enjoy ourselves okay? The night is still young and it's not like Sharpay and I are chopped liver or anything," joked Zeke, desperately wanting to banish the frown lines he saw on Gabriella's face in that moment, reading her disappointment wafting off her like cheap perfume. "Come on Gabriella, you know what he's like, what you and I have talked about before. You deserve someone better than the player upstairs."

"Tell that to my naïve heart," murmured Gabriella, just low enough for neither Zeke or Sharpay to hear.

Knowing that Gabriella was in some real pain and self pity, Sharpay decided it was time to get her best friend's spirits up. Sharpay grabbed Gabriella's hand and dragged her towards the dance floor while shouting to Zeke to get them each a drink and a pink jelly shot. Once on the dance floor, Sharpay quickly found Chad and Taylor and pushed through the crush to stand next to them before starting to get Gabriella dancing with her. Seeing the unsmiling face of Gabriella's, Taylor shot Sharpay a concerned look who only mouthed 'Troy' which was enough for Taylor to piece together that Troy was with another girl somewhere.

Taylor separated herself from Chad's body to move closer to her girlfriends, relieved when Gabriella started to loosen up, going as far as actually taking the pink jelly shot Zeke handed her before drinking from the water bottle. 'He really knows me so well. I'm lucky to have Zeke as a best friend.'

Chad wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waist as the five continued to dance together, Chad accepting that Sharpay and Taylor were more concerned about Gabriella in that moment than anything else and understanding especially as Zeke kept looking at Gabriella in a worried manner whenever he thought Gabriella wasn't looking.

When Chad came back to the group with the third or fourth beer of the night for himself and Zeke with another water bottle for Gabriella, Chad spotted Troy enter the room, his blue eyes catching Chad's after a few sweeps. Chad glanced over at Gabriella who was currently dancing between Sharpay and Taylor and then back at Troy, wondering what would happen in the next few moments.

Troy flirted with a few girls that crossed his path and begged for dances but let them down easily, instead focusing on making his way down the stairs of the sorority house successfully, a bit relieved to be out of Nicole's room. Passing a drink table, Troy grabbed a beer and sipped on it as he began looking around for his best friends. Troy found Jason easily, the other guy in the midst of talking to a blonde with almost zero space in between them. Jason caught Troy's gaze and gave him a discreet thumbs up causing Troy to smirk.

Next Troy walked into the large living room and began sweeping the room in search of Zeke and Chad while drinking from his red cup again. Just as he was about to give up, Troy caught sight of Chad's big hair and smiled before starting to make his way through the crowd. Troy nearly spilt his beer though as he was merely a few yards away from Chad as he spied a grinning Gabriella spinning out of Zeke's arms and then back in them, Sharpay and Taylor laughing nearby, a sight that froze Troy in his tracks before getting nearly run over by another dancing couple. Quick to move out of the way, Troy took the last few steps towards the group of friends as his heart sped up, seeing Gabriella look like a true Greek goddess in her violet toga that was conservative compared to the others but more sexy than Troy could have ever imagined.

Chad bumped fists with Troy before watching Troy turn towards Gabriella and Zeke who were busy laughing together, seeing Taylor and Sharpay instantly spot Troy to openly glare at him. 'Oh God, heaven help me if I have to tear those two girls off of Troy.'

When Zeke finally let go of Gabriella without seeing Troy nearby, Troy took the opportunity and moved up behind Gabriella, wrapping his muscled arms around her waist, feeling Gabriella stiffen only to relax as he whispered, "Happy Halloween angel. I'm glad you decided to attend as the goddess you truly are."

Gabriella's eyes fluttered closed as his husky voice echoed in her right ear, feeling his warm breath on her neck which caused shivers to race down her spine. "Happy Halloween," she weakly returned, making every effort to swallow.

Troy found himself chuckling, unaware of the glares being thrown his way as Taylor, Sharpay, and Zeke stopped their dancing to watch the scene unfold. Zeke was about to step forward to break it up but felt a soft but firm hand on his arm stopping him, looking over at Sharpay who shook her head, wanting to see what would happen next. 'After all, this is Gabriella's choice and Troy hasn't done anything technically wrong since they aren't even dating.'

"Thought you were going to stand me up tonight," Troy said, unwrapping his arms from her waist to turn Gabriella's body around with his hands, wrapping his arms again around her tiny waist.

Gabriella remained still, her dark brown eyes trying to find something that would reassure her that this Troy was the Troy she was starting to fall for and not the player who usually reigned over these parties. Her gaze happened to fall on a dark spot on Troy's neck, evidence of exactly what he was doing probably moments before. Narrowing her eyes, she met Troy's gaze and shook her head. "Clearly you took my absence earlier tonight as standing you up and moved onto the next girl. It's nice to know who I'm dealing with tonight."

With a swift move, Gabriella broke Troy's hold on her and took a few steps back. "Brie? What's wrong?"

A sarcastic laugh escaped Gabriella's lips as she heard his genuine confusion. "I honestly keep forgetting you have this other side Troy, the side that could care less if I got lost in the crowd so long as you have at least one female body in your arms. You know, it's a pity. I really was starting to like you but now I realize that it's the daytime Troy that I've been falling for, the Troy who isn't all about his reputation, about how many notches he can gain in a single night."

Without another word, Gabriella fought her way through the crowd with Zeke and Sharpay hot on her heels. Troy stood there for a few moment utterly shocked, unsure of what just happened.

Chad ignored Taylor's pull at his hand as he broke away from her hold to approach Troy. "Dude, you've got a huge ass hickey on your neck man."

Troy's eyes widened as he slapped a hand over his neck, cursing Nicole and her tendencies to love marking him as her property when she knew he wasn't exclusively hers. "Fuck!"

Leaving Chad and Taylor behind, Troy hurried in the direction he saw Gabriella take off in, relieved when he saw her again but finding his blood begin to boil as he saw a pledge trying to make a physical advance on her, sending Gabriella to cower against the wall right behind her. Troy looked around and cursed again as he didn't see Zeke. 'So much for him protecting her. Where the hell did he go?'

Without another second passing by, Troy maneuvered his way through the crowd until he was right behind the whelp, recognizing him instantly as the pledge that had been a problem child for the past few weeks.

"Come on baby, you know you want it," Tyler slurred, leaning forward to press his lips against Gabriella's neck only to meet the wall as Troy quickly grabbed Gabriella's wrist and tugged her away, putting her body behind his own as Tyler whirled around. "Oh hey Prez! I was just getting to know our sisters a bit better."

"Whitland I strongly advise that if you value your pending membership not to mention your life that you get your ass out of my sight now," murmured Troy quietly, his steel filled voice enough to scare the lower classman even if he was drunk. "Get lost!"

"Dude, sorry! I was just, she was just, never mind," started Tyler before scurrying off, Troy watching him leave his sight until he was completely gone, turning around only then to see Gabriella tremble.

"Brie, are you okay?" asked Troy, his voice softening immediately.

Gabriella raised her eyes to meet his gaze, letting Troy see that she really wasn't. "I'm fine. I think I'll just go to Kelsi's for the night. I clearly can't stay here."

Troy immediately shook his head, daring to let go of Gabriella's hand to place a hand on each side of her face, his blue eyes lightening as they stared down at her. "Then come stay with me. It doesn't have to be anything other than you having a safe, comfortable place to sleep. I know you are probably disgusted with me right now and I don't blame you but I can't let you walk across campus right now at this hour. Please, let me take care of you. I'll sleep on the floor or even in Chad's room if it makes you feel better."

Tears filled Gabriella's eyes at how sweet Troy was being to her, wanting to take care of her again when moments before Gabriella was so mad at Troy being the single guy he was, no matter how irrational it was. Gabriella had brushed both Zeke and Sharpay off moments before Gabriella suddenly realized that Troy really was allowed to see and kiss and dance with other girls if he wanted to as she had no claim but having this Troy right then, her favorite Troy, was too much for Gabriella in that moment.

Seeing Gabriella waver, Troy placed a soft kiss on her forehead, wishing he hadn't been so stupid earlier with her. "Please Brie?"

Swallowing, Gabriella nodded, pulling away slightly so she could see the genuine care in his eyes, committing that moment to memory. "If you are serious…"

"I am, truly. Do you have your key to your room? Is it locked?" questioned Troy, remembering Gabriella's tendency to lock her door whenever she left it.

"Yup," answered Gabriella. "Are you sure you are okay with me staying though at your place?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded and trust me, if it was anyone else, they wouldn't be getting this offer. I'll even change the sheets for you," promised Troy, recalling also Gabriella's aversion to having possibly slept in sheets other girls had before her.

Gabriella smiled, giving into the impulse to hug Troy, snuggling into his embrace as he wrapped his arms around her in return, kissing the top of her head before the pair made their way out of the Kappa Phi Sigma house to go to the empty Zeta Theta Mu house where Troy did in fact change the sheets for Gabriella, letting her lay between the clean sheets in the gym shorts and cami she had on under the toga. Troy disappeared from the room to take a shower, locking the door behind him and bringing his key, only to return to find Gabriella practically asleep.

He grinned as he pulled the sheet and comforter more over Gabriella's body, snagging a pillow and dropping it on the ground in preparation for sleeping on the floor.

"No Troy, don't," Gabriella protested quietly, her eyes opening slightly to look at him.

"Did you want me to sleep in Chad's room then?" questioned Troy, picking the pillow back up.

"Course not, this is your room. There's room enough for both of us, I don't mind," murmured Gabriella, letting out a small yawn.

Troy just smiled at her, thinking of how sweet she really was, hating himself for hurting her earlier even if it was unintentionally. He checked to make sure he door was locked before sliding into the bed next to her, pulling the covers over his own body before settling his head on his pillow, laying on his side as he studied Gabriella's peaceful face.

"I really am sorry Brie, I didn't mean to hurt you in anyway tonight," apologized Troy, knowing he would have to make it up to her in some way.

Gabriella shook her head a little, cracking open her eyes for a few moments before she whispered, "It's not your fault, you didn't mean it. Thank you for protecting me and caring for me Troy. I really do appreciate you."

"Likewise," returned Troy, realizing just a second before his lips brushed against hers tentatively that his head had dipped that far, grateful when she returned the pressure, smiling as he pulled away. "Good night angel."

"Good night," she returned, snuggling into his hold as Troy laid an arm across her waist and curled it around her body, really feeling as if he was sleeping with an angel.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Gabriella dragged her tired body up the stairs of the Zeta Theta Mu house, too tired to notice some of the fraternity brothers who were checking her out in her skinny dark wash jeans and white form fitting short sleeved sweater. Normally Gabriella would have pulled a Sharpay and snapped at them to quite staring but Gabriella was beyond tired from work and midterms. Of course, knowing she was being checked out so openly would have blown her mind too.

Zeke though saw all this, crediting Sharpay and Taylor redoing some of Gabriella's closet now that Gabriella was more social for drawing some of the attention but also acknowledging that Troy's new attention on her had also brought about the attention she was now being given by guys both on and off Greek Row. Zeke quickly ducked into his room he shared with Jason so his best friend wouldn't catch him watching her make her way up while he was walking back from the bathroom to his room.

"Knock, knock," Gabriella greeted, hovering for a moment in the doorway of the room before coming in after getting a welcoming smile from her college best friend. "So, I know I'm a bit early but would you mind if I just crash out on your bed for a bit?"

Chuckling, Zeke shook his head. "Go right ahead. What's the matter Gabs? Midterms actually getting to you?"

"Hey, at least all mine are done except for this paper we have to work on tonight for our group project. You still have one more left so I'd stop teasing me if I were you," Gabriella shot back, throwing her small body onto Zeke's bed, closing her eyes as she allowed the exhaustion to finally weigh down on her. "How have exams been?"

"Tough but there's some odd comfort in the fact that there are only two rounds of finals and one more round of midterms to endure before we're out of here," Zeke offered in return, picking up his highlighter that was laying nearby his textbook and highlighting an important passage he wanted to return to later. "Lucky you missed out on a whole year of sets of both though."

Gabriella shrugged her shoulders, cracking her eyes open a little as she turned her head on Zeke's pillow to look at him. "Perhaps but I worked my ass off in the past two and a half years almost to get here. You know how much graduating with this degree means to me and my family Z."

Zeke thought back to the many conversations Gabriella and he had shared over the years and how many times he had heard the true, genuine want of hers to not be like Daniella or Samantha in several ways. Of course these were the same memories that puzzled Zeke a little when he thought of how Gabriella was now starting to behave with Troy, one of the last guys Zeke would have ever pictured her with and at the very least interested in.

"I know that Gabs and I'm glad that we could be part of this project together, so we both can work our asses off together. We're still going to enroll in those other courses you and I planned on last year right? Can't imagine the last semester without you."

Gabriella smiled at her best friend, meeting his gaze. "As I can't imagine it without you. Truly, you are one of the only real silver linings for me here at college, a nice break from all the other chaos like work and studying and this stupid Greek life."

"Hey now, Greek Row can't be treating you all that badly these days. I can tell you for a fact that the brothers have now had your name on their lips as of late," Zeke stated, watching to see how Gabriella reacted to the truth he just spoke. "Got your eyes on any frat guy?"

She scrunched up her face and shook her head, turning her head again so she was staring up at the white ceiling above Zeke's bed. "I think I could have done without the knowledge that I'm getting talked about. You know how I hate that attention."

Zeke waited for a few beats and realized Gabriella was done addressing his statement. "Yeah, well, when you become a target of our beloved fraternity president you start getting attention. Besides, I thought not being invisible would please you."

"And you figured that how exactly?" returned Gabriella, rolling her eyes as she let out a sigh. "I think being invisible is far better but then again it is what it is, right? I at least know that my true friends, the people who saw me when I was invisible, will always be there for me."

"That is true. So really, Gabs, are you not toying with any guy right now?" Zeke pushed, seeing this as his chance to get inside Gabriella's head to really see what her mind was thinking about this whole thing with Troy. From what Zeke had seen it didn't look like anything serious as Troy was still seeing plenty of other girls but Zeke sensed a change in him but more so whenever Gabriella was around, seeing the physical touches but really feeling the undercurrent that ignites whenever Troy and Gabriella are together.

When Gabriella opened her mouth to answer, she stopped as she heard familiar loud voices coming from down the hall after a loud bang of a door hitting a wall rather forcefully.

"Bolton, you are out of your fucking mind! How can you do this to me? We had a deal!" Nicole screamed, her high pitched voice easily reverberating around the fraternity house, at least on the second floor.

"Nicole, seriously, this is crossing a line! I will not do it and I will not put this fraternity through it. This is such a bad idea now, trust me. Why won't you listen?" Troy demanded, his voice rising to match hers. "This is a charity we are doing this for, not to do anything else!"

"But Troy, you know how important this is to everything else you and I have been talking about! Don't you see? This is perfect!"

There was a pause before Gabriella heard Troy speak again. "Forget it Nicole, I will not do this. Deal or not, I will not allow Zeta Theta Mu to be disgraced along with Kappa Phi Sigma for some stupid idea you just have to do."

Out in the hall, Nicole was glaring at Troy, her eyes narrowing on the God of Greek Row. "Troy we made a deal, you promised! How can you back out on me like this? We were supposed to do this whole thing together! To unite the fraternity and sorority but also us!"

Troy shrugged, enraging Nicole even further. "Guess there is no real us so promise doesn't hold, especially when you are pushing the limits beyond where they are supposed to stretch. I told you, if you took out some of those pictures you chose I'd be on board, Zeta Theta Mu would be on board."

"Since when did you get so weak Troy? You used to be better than this! How can you just walk away, ruining this bond between our organizations because of one soft spot you clearly are developing against my advisement?" Nicole questioned, clearly frustrated with the situation but mostly with him. "You used to be the best Troy, the best in everything from basketball to sex. What's been going on with you lately?"

The muscles in Troy's cheeks flexed at Nicole's words, tasting a bit of blood as he bit down on his tongue as to not lash out at Nicole in the hallway as he saw curious heads of fraternity brothers begin to pop out from rooms. "If that's how you feel Nicole I suggest you take your supposed philanthropy project, which is really a mischief creator, and get the hell away from me and all my weakness. Zeta Theta Mu will find its own philanthropy event to raise money this semester and probably next semester as well if I have anything to say about it if you continue on with this ill-fated plan of yours."

"Fine! Have it your way!" Nicole shouted, shoving against Troy's chest before briskly walking down the hallways and down the stairs, leaving in her trail the iciness that rolled right off her body as she went.

Troy wavered a bit but otherwise wasn't affected by Nicole's attempt at a shove, throwing a look down the hall that caused all the other brothers to duck back into their rooms. Cursing under his breath, Troy realized that he now had to help the Philanthropy Chair find a new event and knew he'd have repercussions for this snap decision but knew what drove him and that it was a valid reason he used despite his personal feelings. Without a care for what time it was, Troy walked down the hall, focused only on the room he knew he would find said Philanthropy Chair in.

When Troy got there though there was no one in the triple room so he left a quick note on the whiteboard that hung on the door to be contacted as soon as the message was received. On his way back to his room though he slowed as he heard a familiar set of voices, his bad mood alleviated slightly as he heard some of her tinkling laughter float from Zeke and Jason's room.

The bad mood though returned with a vengeance as he stopped in the doorway of the room to see Gabriella laying down on Zeke's bed with Zeke tickling her sides, both of them laughing as Zeke sat on the edge of the bed with his upper body leaned over her. "Am I interrupting?"

Zeke and Gabriella looked towards the doorway where the owner of the room stood, a stormy expression on his face, his eyes ice blue. Both dropped their smiles and ceased laughing as Troy's negative energy entered the room, changing the environment entirely.

Instead, Gabriella exchanged a worried look with Zeke before she looked back at Troy who was now leaning against the doorframe, his hard eyes trained only on her. "No, we were just hanging out before our group meeting. If you aren't in the mood though…"

"No, let's go. I need to get out of here and a walk to the library will probably do me good," Troy stated, turning on his heel to get his stuff from his room.

Gabriella and Zeke were both silent as they gathered their stuff, Gabriella slipping on her jacket while Zeke put his shoes on. They waited there together until Troy paused outside the room until he saw them see him and continued walking on, leaving Gabriella and Zeke to follow in his broody wake.

"Is he like this often?" Gabriella whispered as she and Zeke walked several yards behind Troy, giving him all the physical space he could want.

Zeke sighed, looking back towards his best friend, seeing the tenseness in his body. "Not frequently, no. Whatever he and Nicole were arguing about must have been bad. Troy is usually pretty even keeled. Don't worry, he would never hurt her or anything if you are worried about Nicole."

"It's not her I'm worried about, believe me. I just am unsure of what to make of this side of Troy. He looks really upset," commented Gabriella, her eyes trained on Troy who ignored the appreciative glances he was getting and the flirty comments called out.

"Guess the bond between our organizations could be strained or severed soon from the sounds of it, whatever it was about. Both presidents having it out like that is never good because they hold quite a sway. No matter, you'll always be my little sister," Zeke teased, wrapping his free left arm around Gabriella's shoulder, bringing her body into his side to give her an affectionate squeeze and keeping his arm there in a sign of brotherly affection.

"Aww, and you'll always be my big brother Zeke," returned Gabriella, a smile on her lips as she looked up at him.

Both Gabriella and Zeke stopped abruptly as they bumped into a solid body, both looking up from each other to see Troy standing there, the hard angles of his face clear even in the darkness. Feeling the lethalness of the stare directed his way, Zeke dropped his arm from around Gabriella's shoulders, not caring to get into an altercation with Troy in that very moment. Zeke wasn't afraid of Troy, far from it, but he didn't want to cause a scene right outside the library with Gabriella there too.

"If you two are done with your lover's walk I'll go sign in for the study room." Troy let his words hang there between them for a moment before he turned back around and went into the library, leaving the pair outside standing dumbfounded while Troy himself was wondering where in the hell his attitude came from when it came to his project team members. 'It's simple really, you are plain jealous with a capital J, you are riled up about Nicole, and your defenses are up because you don't know what Brie heard.'

Taking a bit longer than he needed to retrieve the key from the desk in exchange for his school ID card, Troy walked up the three flights of stairs a bit slowly to let himself cool down, knowing that he needed to let go of everything that happened back at the frat house before it corrupted his night any further. By the time Troy made it to the study room that was actually their normal now every time they met as a group, Gabriella and Zeke both were leaning up against the wall next to the door, quietly talking between them.

Troy felt another pull at his gut but he ignored it, instead showing Gabriella and Zeke a crooked smile. "Didn't want to break into the room huh?"

"Not our style man, especially in a library," replied Zeke, relieved a little to see Troy in a slightly better mood. "What's up with the speed though? Since when did you go old man on us?"

"It was either take some time to unwind coming up here or pound on your ass a bit," Troy joked, going to the door and unlocking it before flipping on the light switch. He turned and held the door open for Gabriella and Zeke, Gabriella giving him a tentative smile as she entered. As Gabriella passed, Troy couldn't help but extend his arm to grab her hand to hold in his for a moment before he kissed the back of it, delighted when she grinned at him albeit a bit shyly. "Sorry for not properly greeting you earlier."

Gabriella shrugged her petite shoulders. "You clearly had other things on your mind, it's okay, I understand."

"And that is one of the amazing things about you angel." Troy let go of her hand and sat down at the table across from her. "So, what do we have left for this paper?"

After setting up her laptop, Gabriella stuck in her flash drive and waited for a moment to open before locating their team's paper that was due to their professor at the end of the week. "I'm missing your piece Troy but other than that, we need to edit and then do the bibliography. Luckily this is just a draft of our business plan but we need to start seriously thinking of how we want to present the final draft, the floor plan designs and everything."

Troy dug into his pocket for his keys and slid them across the table towards Gabriella who stopped them before they could fall off the side of the table. "My piece is in the USB stick and it was edited a few times by me but please, do your best."

Gabriella saw the smirk on his face and only shook her head, smiling slightly as she found him to be actually charming in a cocky way if that was at all possible. "I think I just may take you up on your challenge Bolton."

"Better break out the red font Gabs, it'll need it," Zeke added, chuckling as Troy glared at him for a few moments before opening his notebook. "Guess I can start on the bibliography?"

"Baylor, do you really know how to do that in MLA format? Really?" Troy studied his buddy as Zeke nodded his head only to pause and then shake his head.

"Maybe not, come to think of it. Does it have to be in MLA?"

"Sorry bud, I think so. I'm sure there are books though here in this library, imagine that, which can help," Troy suggested, watching as Zeke eyed him a bit while Gabriella obliviously continued working on integrating the team's paper together. "Do you need help finding it?"

Zeke, deciding it was safe to leave Troy with Gabriella unattended in the library, refused the help. "I'm good. I'll be back so no disappearing on me, all right?"

"Course not."

Gabriella gave Zeke a faint wave as she zeroed in again on the text in front of her, her brow furrowing as she concentrated on editing the intro paragraph to Troy's part, again not noticing as Troy openly watched her work while Zeke left the room.

A few minutes passed as Troy let Gabriella continue to work, content in just observing her, a small part of him beginning to feel anxious as he thought back to earlier in the night, wondering what Gabriella was able to deduce from his argument with Nicole. 'It can't be much otherwise she wouldn't be so calm around you Bolton.'

As Gabriella finished a one-over of Troy's part, she glanced up and caught the pair of cerulean eyes staring at her. She felt her cheeks flush as she stared back, feeling the undeniable connection that always came to life when she was with Troy, no matter the environment. "You're doing that staring thing again."

The corners of his lips curved up, chuckling as Troy knew that Gabriella was right and that he had been caught yet again, as he had been every time they had been together in the past few days whether it be at the gym, the library, class, or anywhere in between. "Perhaps I am. What are you going to do about it?"

"Put a paper bag over your head?" offered Gabriella, giggling as he rolled his eyes at her silly suggestion. "I could always blindfold you so you couldn't stare at me anymore but would allow you to breathe at least."

"Blindfold huh? Didn't know you were kinky like that Brie," Troy teased, smirking more as the blush on Gabriella's cheeks spread. "Actually, would you help me find a book?"

By the way Gabriella's eyes sharpened as she looked back at him, Troy got the feeling that she saw through his thinly veiled question. "Exactly what type of book are we looking for Troy? We are supposed to be working on the group paper that's due and that doesn't require any additional resources."

"Fine, so I just want to talk to you, alone, and I keep seeing people pass us by and stare in via the windows. Just a few minutes Brie? Please?"

Unable to resist the invitation any longer, especially as she suspected Troy really did need to talk, Gabriella nodded her head, saving the paper on her flash drive before closing it and pulling the drive out. Gabriella tossed Troy's keys back to him and slipped the flash drive in her pocked before locking her computer, getting up from the table and walking out of the room with Troy. Both turned as they heard Zeke's voice from nearby, smiling as they saw Zeke casually talking to Sharpay a few yards away near the stairwell.

"Doubt he'll miss us. Guess we should close the door to the study room and lock it while we're gone," murmured Troy, going back into the room and grabbing the key to the room before closing it and making sure the door was locked.

Before Gabriella could decide which way to go, she felt his calloused hand gently grab hers, sliding his fingers between hers as he tugged on their now intertwined hands towards the opposite direction of where Zeke and Sharpay were talking. Gabriella didn't think anything of the direction in where they were walking until she noticed they were walking into the less frequented area of the library, deep in the opposite corner of where their study room was up here on the third floor, an area Gabriella had never had a reason to venture through before.

Troy glanced back and saw Gabriella piecing together where they were and found himself wondering if she really hadn't ever been to this part of the library with a guy before, curious if she knew what usually this part of the library was used for, not that Troy had that on his mind right then necessarily. "This an okay place for us to talk?"

Gabriella looked around from where they had stopped walking to see not a soul in sight in either direction from where they were in the middle of the book shelves and shrugged. "Looks quiet enough with no eavesdropping ears. What's going on?"

Chuckling a little at Gabriella's naivety of where they stood, Troy pushed his amusement aside as he took her other hand in his, running his thumbs over the tops of her hands. "How much did you hear earlier at the frat house?"

Unable to look away, Gabriella returned his gaze, studying them for a moment before she said, "Not too much, just that it sounds like our organizations are probably not going to do a charity event or fundraiser together this academic school year if either of you have your final say, which of course you do. Not sure why or what happened before that. Do you want to talk about it?"

Troy swallowed as he saw the genuine concern in Gabriella's brown eyes, complete openness residing there. "Just that I hope whatever happens between Zeta Theta Mu and Kappa Phi Sigma won't ruin what is growing between us."

The huskiness in Troy's voice caught Gabriella's attention, her gaze snapping back to his face from where it had been studying some faded books a few shelves down while she listened. "Growing between us?"

Troy shook his head slightly as he chuckled, untangling his right hand from her left so that he could brush back some of her dark hair, savoring the feel of the silky strands under his touch. "Come on Miss Smartie. I know you are pretty smart, you must see what I am seeing, how our bond and chemistry just keeps growing in strength. I'd say that makes for something to be growing between us. Not many girls can say they've slept in my bed for a whole night with me twice in the same first half of a semester and in clean sheets to boot."

"Cause that just made me feel so special Troy, really. How many notches do you really have anyway?" Gabriella questioned, fighting the strong desire to just melt into his hand that was now cupping the side of her face. "Thought I was just another conquest for you."

"You? A conquest? Angel, I'm surprised in you. You are far more than just a conquest, for me or any other."

"Flirt," countered Gabriella, smiling as she saw the lopsided smile grace Troy's face. "I know you use that line and nickname on at least ten other girls on this campus."

"Perhaps but you are the one right here, in front of me, the main focus of my attention and I wouldn't have it any other way," Troy murmured, searching Gabriella's face before dipping his head down to capture her lips with his.

At first Gabriella felt his lips ghost across hers a few times but soon realized this was no chaste kiss as Troy abandoned holding her right hand with his left in favor of resting both hands of his against a shelf right behind Gabriella, essentially caging her in. Gabriella strangely found herself comfortable there as she allowed Troy to deepen the kiss after licking at her lips, her hands somehow finding their way into his hair as she unconsciously pulled his body closer to hers.

Both groaned as their kissing continued, Troy slowly breaking away from the lips that always teased him to place kisses along Gabriella's neck as she herself explored how her lips ghosting over Troy's exposed skin on his shoulder, right above the collar of his t-shirt, affected him, making him groan more, giving Gabriella pleasure in knowing she could have just as equal of an effect on his body as he did on hers.

Their heated embrace was suddenly interrupted as a loud, and repeated, cough filled the air, fighting its way through their passion filled minds until both Troy and Gabriella pulled slightly away from each other, turning their heads in the direction of the source to see Zeke uncomfortably standing there.

Seeing the embarrassed but concerned look on Zeke's face woke Gabriella up enough for her to realize that she had her hands under Troy's t-shirt as his were under her sweater, quickly, removing her hands from Troy's toned stomach, almost flinching at the forced break in contact. A deep blush filled her cheeks as she felt Troy's hands slip out from under her sweater, letting her straighten it out before she scurried away, past Zeke, not saying anything but feeling a burning sense of regret that she had let things go so far with Troy, especially in the library, and yet finding that a part of her really enjoyed it.

Zeke let Gabriella go, knowing she would need a few moments to collect herself, instead focusing on Troy who gave him a sheepish smile as he straightened out his own shirt. "Troy, I thought you said your intentions were good."

The quietness in Zeke's voice surprised Troy, forcing him to look up and meet his friend's gaze that was far from friendly in that moment. "They are Zeke, honest."

"Then why the hell are you here? Where you and I both know you go only if you plan on carrying on a private act in a place open to the public? Gabriella is not that type of girl damn it!"

"Zeke, calm down man. Nothing happened, nor would it have happened. I brought her here to talk and things just started to happen. I know you love Brie like your baby sister but you can't keep her protected from every guy out there! You know me, you know I won't hurt her."

Zeke shook his head though, a clear sign that he disagreed. "That's the thing, I do know you and I know your history Troy. You've burned so many since senior year in high school man. Troy, you're like a real brother to me but I can't let you hurt Gabs like you have every other girl."

Troy cleared his throat, suddenly finding it a bit dry, but managed to find his voice again as he clearly heard Zeke's deeper message. "Look, I'm not going to fuck around with her for the sport of it Zeke. That's not what this is about."

"Then what is it about?"

Troy thought for a few moments, trying to figure it out himself. "When I figure it out, I'll tell you Zeke but I don't even know but this, what's between me and her, it doesn't feel like anything I've ever felt before. I'm still trying to work it out but I know it's different, that it's unique to her."

"It's because she is unique, Gabs is special. Dude, I don't mind that you guys are friends, or even casually dating or whatever but don't fuck around with her okay? She deserves better than that."

"You've got some really tainted picture of me don't you Baylor?"

Zeke could only shake his head as he heard Troy's question. "It isn't tainted as much as a sad realization of who you have evolved to be. Don't keep letting the past haunt you Troy or you'll one day wonder exactly what you've given up to keep that haunting alive."

Troy dragged in a deep breath as he filled his lungs and then slowly let it out, absorbing what his best friend had to say. "Guess we better go, finish off this paper. We cool man?"

There was a minor moment of hesitation before Zeke nodded, bumping fists with Troy. "We're cool bro. Come on, let's go find Gabs and finish this thing."

Both guys were relieved when they walked back to the study room and found Gabriella patiently waiting there, a smile back on her face, her cheeks still a bit pink. "I was beginning to think I'd have to find you two."

"Nah, we wouldn't ditch you like the way you guys ditched me," answered Zeke as Troy unlocked and opened the study room door again, letting Gabriella and Zeke to enter first.

"Didn't look like you needed our company the way you were working Sharpay," Troy joked, laughing as he saw the goofy smile of Zeke's appear as he thought about Sharpay. "Did you at least solidify a date for this upcoming weekend?"

"Yup, I did, thank you very much."

Gabriella squealed in excitement as she heard this, throwing her arms around Zeke in a congratulatory hug. "You did it! Sharpay must be so stoked!"

"Hopefully," got out Zeke, returning the hug before Gabriella settled back down into her chair. "Now, all distractions aside, are we good to finish this paper? I'll still do the bibliography, Gabs you can finish editing, and Troy, well, can you maybe start thinking of how we can finalize the paper for the end of the semester deadline and what else we may need?"

"On it," agreed Troy, giving Zeke a salute before picking up a pen nearby and jotting down a few thoughts right off the bat, glad for the distraction Zeke had given him from the thoughts Troy was having, all sparked by his talk just a few minutes with Zeke, wondering about the real truth in Zeke's words.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After Gabriella tossed Zeke his preferred soda can, Gabriella grabbed one for herself from the mini-fridge in Zeke's and Jason's room before walking over and sitting down next to Zeke with the open pizza box between them. Gabriella picked up a still hot slice from the box and took a bite before setting it down on the paper plate in her hands, closing her eyes as she savored the melty goodness.

"Mmm…this is just amazing right now…" Gabriella murmured, opening her eyes to see Zeke silently laughing at her. "What?"

"Just, you…how do I best put this? I guess this is one of the things I love best about you Gabs. You aren't afraid to be you and there certainly isn't anyone else like you," Zeke answered, taking a bite of his own pizza slice. "I mean, you gotta admit that you'd never see most of your sorority sisters enjoying a nice, greasy slice of pizza and showing how much she loved the unhealthiness of it."

Gabriella scoffed at the mere idea. "Are you kidding? I'm surprised they haven't demanded I go to a nutritionist or something for the way I eat."

"They can't complain about something if it isn't adversely affecting the flawless image that is a Kappa Phi Sigma girl and let me tell you, I myself am amazed that you can eat as much as me sometimes and never show it. Must be all those workouts before or after work you put in at the gym."

"Or it could be the wonderful metabolism that I was genetically blessed with that once it stops working will be the end of this eating contest you and I sometimes have. Are you as relieved as I am that we got that team paper in today on time? I don't know why but I was having nightmares about something going wrong with this project last night."

"Well it is done and in, nothing else we can do now. However, speaking of last night…"

Gabriella took a sip from the soda can before placing it back down on Zeke's dresser that was nearby. "May as well spit it out Zeke, I figured you would want to talk about it tonight. What's on your mind?"

Zeke let the silence linger between them as he contemplated what next to say now that he had the open forum he'd been looking for to have this talk with his best friend. "How serious are you about Troy Gabs?"

Gabriella blinked, surprised by that question when she had expected to be grilled about being in the area of the library that she and Troy were in the night before. Sharpay had informed her later that night that the area they were in was used for students who needed to get hot and heavy immediately and couldn't make it to their dorm rooms or those who loved the thrill of having sex in a public place where they could be caught.

"Umm, I don't know?"

"I think you do know. I promise, nothing is going to change, I won't see you differently, but I need to know where you two stand…what this new development between the both of you means."

Hearing a bit of a desperate edge somewhere in Zeke's voice, Gabriella decided to put serious thought in her answer, now curious as to what was driving Zeke's concern. "It would be a lie if I said I didn't care about him and what he does. I think you can already tell that Troy has caught my attention in a way no other guy has in my lifetime. If you're worried I'm going to give up my academic career for him, don't worry, it won't happen. I haven't completely lost it over him."

Zeke grabbed for his second slice of pizza as he listened, relieved to hear the honesty in Gabriella's voice. "I don't think I'm so worried about you giving up your academic career for him as you put it, as much as I'm worried about you getting too involved with him."

"Define 'too involved' Zeke," Gabriella prompted, now giving her best friend a quizzical look. "What exactly do you mean?"

Sighing a little, Zeke leaned his head against the wall behind him as he continued to chew the pizza in his mouth, wondering exactly how much to reveal to Gabriella about Troy without betraying Troy either. "Gabs, you know how Troy and I went to high school together, with Chad and Jason?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, I know that now. Why? What does that have to do with your concern about me getting too involved with him? Does he have some secret girlfriend from high school that he's neglected to tell any of the girls here about?"

"Not exactly," Zeke returned, taking another bite of his pizza as he settled on exactly what to reveal to Gabriella in that moment. "There is a girl though, perhaps two…"

"Whoa, hang on, what?" questioned Gabriella, paling a little as she heard Zeke's words. "Two girls? Zeke, why didn't you tell me sooner? I so am not that cheating type! Oh my God, that's what you are telling me huh? That I am that cheating type? Oh God, I'm no better than Nicole!"

As Zeke heard the increasingly large hysterical edge to Gabriella's voice continue to grow, he was at first panicked before he couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Gabs, no, oh my God that's rich! I am so never going to forget that!"

After staring at Zeke in a confused manner for a few moments as he dropped his paper plate on the bed beside him to clutch his stomach in laughter, Gabriella's freak out moment began to disappear as she realized that she must have assumed wrong as to what Zeke was about to say, relieved in a very big way that she wasn't right this time. Instead, Gabriella waited until Zeke was done with his laughter, arching an eyebrow at her best friend as he slowly caught his breath. "Done yet?"

Zeke dragged in a few deep breaths in and out of his lungs before nodding his head, finally able to look at Gabriella again and not burst out into laughter. "Sorry but, man, you so have this way about you! I would never classify you in the same class as Nicole ever, trust me. You didn't let me finish though!"

"Then finish or I'm taking the pizza and feeding it to Chad," Gabriella lightly threatened, picking up the can of soda on the dresser to take a few sips on it while she waited for Zeke to calm down further. "What exactly are you trying to tell me Zeke if Troy doesn't have some secret girlfriends out there?"

Settling down, Zeke decided to be as straight forward as he could. "Troy has only had two serious girlfriends in his lifetime. One in junior high, he was the first of all of us to have a girlfriend of course, and one that started junior year, ending in senior year. She was the last and the longer of the two."

Gabriella put her own pizza aside as she gave Zeke her full attention. "Okay, so Troy has had girlfriends before me. I figured as much but hearing that he has settled down before is actually encouraging. Why do I feel though that you are about to tell me more?"

"Because I am," Zeke sighed. "That last girlfriend, Monica, she changed the way Troy viewed and still views girls at large. After her, there was one more girl he was getting serious with at the end of senior year, Kathleen, and together she and Monica really cemented things for him. I can't really tell you more than that, hell sometimes I even wonder if I know it all, but I wanted you to know that Troy does have baggage."

"Who doesn't though Zeke? We've all got our issues, our burdens to carry."

"True but his baggage has created a guy that is unpredictable when it comes to women. I haven't seen him seriously consider any girl as more than just a fling in all these years since high school, since all that happened to him and possibly more, I'm not sure. Perhaps the only other person besides Troy who knows everything that happened to the poor guy then is Chad but usually we stay away from that topic of conversation."

"I can completely see why. Poor Troy," Gabriella murmured, having a million different scenarios running through her head as to what Troy could have possibly gone through. "High school is either really great for people or really sucky and girls especially can be cruel."

Zeke sat back as he saw the different thoughts and emotions pass over Gabriella's face, intrigued as to how she was handling his news. "Well I think the opposite sexes tend to be cruel to each other in general, intentional or not. So yeah, I wanted to tell you what I could, what I know, because I don't want you to set yourself up with the expectation that Troy is that stereotypical case of a player turned good by just one simple kiss of the right girl. If I believed in that, I would say you are the ideal right girl for him, but I just don't know what he's capable of these days, especially with you."

Thinking about what Zeke said, Gabriella nodded her head, grateful that Zeke did tell her. "No, I'm glad you told me, were honest with me, even if it isn't all of it. You really are the best friend I could have asked for, you know that? Although I know it probably kills you to see me and Troy grow closer, you haven't interfered but have done what you can to be supportive but also keep me informed to make the best decisions for myself. That's the best I could have asked for."

"Does this change anything for you? About what you think about what's going on between you and Troy?"

Gabriella got up from her position on Zeke's bed and walked over to one of the windows in the room, looking out at the twinkling stars above. She found the brightest star she could, hoping it really wasn't a planet, and made a silent wish, feeling Zeke still watching her.

When Gabriella turned her body back towards the room, her ears picked out a familiar chuckle before she saw Troy pass by the room, a pretty blonde who Gabriella recognized belonged to another sorority on his arm, giggling with him. There was a stinging feeling that spread throughout her body by the mere glimpse she had of Troy with another girl but Gabriella pushed it aside, knowing that was his way of life, something he had always been truthful about.

With as much conviction as Gabriella could muster, she shook her head in answer to Zeke's question, taking a seat back on the bed. "It doesn't and it's because a part of me has always kept myself from getting lost in him for this very reason. You're right, he's not some guy that's drowning in this world that I can save. My rational being knows that but at the same time my romantic side is thinking that maybe he could be different, be the one. Besides you, he's one of the first guys to really see me for me, not the quiet girl every other guy here on campus sees me as."

"And you've seen him, for who he is and not who he pretends to be," Zeke volunteered, knowing the truth in what both of them said just then. "Gabs, I don't know what else I can do or say to you."

Gabriella gave Zeke a sad smile. "I think you've said and done enough in a good way Zeke. The rest is up to me and him, whatever it may be."

Zeke stood up and wrapped the petite girl in his arms, kissing the top of her head as he felt so helpless in that moment, knowing that Gabriella was right, there was nothing else he could do but hope for the best for Gabriella and Troy both.

"Yo, Zeke! Have you seen my…oh, sorry," Jason started and stopped, walking into the room and interrupting the little moment. "Are you two finally hooking up?"

Zeke groaned, unwrapping himself from Gabriella to slap the back of Jason's head. "Not even Jason. What are you looking for?"

Jason grinned at Gabriella, giving her an appreciative look, before he turned his attention back on Zeke. "I seem to have lost my lucky baseball cap. I'm getting my ass kicked by the guys downstairs on the Xbox 360 and I realized it's cause I'm not wearing the cap!"

"Seriously? You know you have skills without that thing right?"

Since Gabriella had no idea what said lucky baseball cap looked like, she left Jason and Zeke to look for it together under all the piles of clothes on Jason's side of the room to walk out into the hallway, her gaze automatically being drawn to the end of the hallway, to where Troy's door was mostly closed.

Unable to resist the tug in its direction, Gabriella's feet began moving before her brain could process what she was doing, allowing herself to continue being drawn to the partially open door. When Gabriella reached the end of the hallway, her rational mind kicked in, begging for her to turn around and go back into the Zeke's and Jason's room or leave the frat house all together but something called to her from inside Troy's room.

Feeling like a complete stalker now as she faced the partially opened door, Gabriella glanced behind her right shoulder to make sure no one was watching her before pushing herself forward, peeking through the space between the door and the doorframe and into Troy's room, unsure of what exactly she expected to find.

From her angle, Gabriella could see Troy's bed, the very bed she had slept in twice this past semester, and saw that the blonde was sitting on the bed, her body turned towards the opposite wall with one leg curled under her, with Troy nowhere near, making her wonder where he was.

"You know, I really appreciate the help Troy. You have no idea how hard it's been."

"Forget it Ashley, it's been no big deal. Jeff is a great guy and a brother and I know he'll be excited to be getting this present for your anniversary tonight. I also know though he's a huge snoop," Troy's voice was heard saying, Gabriella trying to pinpoint his location.

"Exactly! I love the guy to pieces but he's like this little boy when it comes to presents, always needing to know what it is. Actually, what is it with you guys and always needing to know what's going on?"

Troy's chuckle filled the air. "Just is in our DNA Ash, what can I say? Jeff is just lucky he found you two years ago otherwise I just may not let you leave my room so innocently, tickets to the Lakers and all."

"You are such a shameless flirt Troy! Tell me though, are the rumors true?"

"Rumors?"

"That you are all talk and no walk these days?"

"Well I don't know about no walk…"

"No, I mean that in a good way Troy. Has some lucky girl finally got you to even consider settling down for the first time in your collegiate career?"

There was a pause before Troy's husky voice could be heard again. "Maybe…quite possibly. But that's all I'm going to tell you and that's only because I like you so much. I still can't believe you got Jeff those Lakers tickets and a jersey. He's going to be eating out of your hand tonight."

"I'm counting on that! Thanks again Troy!"

Gabriella saw the blonde getting up and quickly tried to straighten and scramble away but stumbled over her feet, swearing in her head as she managed to sprawl out on the floor right in front of Troy's room just as the door was heard opening. 'So much for wishing on stars…'

Troy was just about to give Ashley a hug good-bye as she headed out of his room, the gift bag containing all of Jeff's anniversary presents in hand, when Troy heard a commotion in the hallway. Quickly Troy threw open the door and recognized who was lying in front of his room before the girl even got up. "Brie? Are you all right?"

With a groan, Gabriella reluctantly pushed herself up with her hands before she felt his firm grip on her helping her stand up on her feet, a concerned expression in his cerulean eyes as Troy quickly did a visual check to ensure Gabriella wasn't hurt. "I'm fine…"

Troy heard the muttered words but couldn't bring himself to loosen his hold on Gabriella, still unsure she was telling the truth. "Can you stand on both of your feet? Did you twist something?"

Gabriella just shook her head, biting her lower lip so hard so thought it may bleed as her mortification at being caught where she was continued to seep through every single one of her pores. "Just bruised my ego."

Just barely, Troy caught those three words and instantly felt relieved, chuckling as Gabriella suddenly looked at him, surprise there on her face. "Well, I guess angels really do fall out of the heavens."

"Cheesy Troy," Ashley snickered from behind him, causing Troy to turn and glare at her before looking back at Gabriella.

"You sure you're okay then?"

Gabriella groaned, wanting to bang her head against the wall she was currently leaning against, Troy's hands no longer on her sides but now were cupping her face, forcing her to look at him straight on. "This is so embarrassing," Gabriella expressed, her eyes darting to the left to see the blonde curiously watching, feeling her blush deepen. "Sorry."

Ashley just smiled even more as she watched the interactions between Troy and the brunette continue, pausing to turn that smile into a sympathetic one. "Why be sorry? It was clearly an accident and lucky you, you had your prince here to save you, right where he belongs."

Troy turned his head to look at Ashley too, not bothering to drop his hands from where they still framed Gabriella's face. "And you said I was cheesy," Troy chuckled.

"It may have been cheesy but it had some truth to it Troy. I'm Ashley by the way," she introduced herself, giving Gabriella another warm smile.

When Troy's hands reluctantly dropped away from her face only to grab onto her hands, Gabriella tried her best to smile back despite her embarrassment. "Gabriella."

"Well, I must be leaving or Jeff is going to wonder where I went. But I hope, no I know, I'll be seeing more of you in the future Gabriella. Bye!"

Gabriella turned her head the other way to watch Ashley walk down the hallway, spotting Zeke duck back into his room after giving Gabriella a knowing look. Before Gabriella could do anything else, she felt Troy's hands softly cup her face again, guiding her face towards his. Swallowing at the prospect of having to explain herself, what she was doing right outside of Troy's door, Gabriella hesitantly met Troy's gaze, unarmed by the tenderness there in his eyes. "Troy, I can explain…"

Chuckling softly, Troy shook his head before leaning his forehead against hers. "There's nothing to explain Brie, I'm just glad you are all right."

Warm sensations filled both of them starting at the spark they both felt when Troy pulled away only to connect his lips with her forehead. "I really am sorry."

"I'm not. Come on, since you are here, why don't we hang out a little tonight? Watch a movie like we did the other night? Kind of seems like the stars want us to after all this."

Troy's mention of the stars made Gabriella's eyes open wide, realizing that maybe her wish had come true after all, being shown exactly the right way to handle Troy and her growing feelings for him. "I guess so."

A grin crossed Troy's lips again as he heard her agreement. "Excellent."

Their lips met in a sweet kiss before Troy led Gabriella into his room, closing the door behind them. "Chick flick?" he heard her ask.

"Horror flick?" Troy answered, smirking a little as she made a face. "You know I don't have any of those other types of movies Brie."

"Fine, I'll just have to settle for _Mission Impossible 3_ until I can sneak some of my own DVDs over here for next time."

The words "next time" escaping her lips were so unexpected but caused Troy to grin even more, realizing he really didn't mind that Ashley saw what she did. She seemed to know already what he knew and that was that Gabriella really was the real deal, which left Troy wondering exactly what he would be doing with this new revelation.

He watched as Gabriella popped the DVD into the player and turned on the TV before settling down on the edge of his bed. Not ever being one for being shy, Troy walked over to the bed and plopped down on it, laying down with his upper back and head resting against a pillow he adjusted. "No need to be so formal Brie, you know I don't bite…much," he added with a grin. "Come here."

Gabriella glanced back at Troy, seeing the twinkle lingering there but threw caution to the wind, following her desire as she moved up the bed to lean into his side, feeling his arm snake around her waist as her head fell onto his shoulder, both feeling completely content to be there, in the moment.


	15. Chapter 15

**Co-Written with cj10824**

Chapter 15

Troy paced back and forth across the floor as he half-listened to her pleas, counting backwards from one-hundred to help calm the sizzling anger that was burning him up. It was that counting that seemed like child's play to anyone else that saved Troy from really losing his cool though when he needed it the most.

"Troy? Are you listening to me?"

His cerulean eyes snapped towards where she was half sitting and laying on her bed, sprawled out so invitingly, yet seemed more repulsive to him the more she tried to lure him to her. "I hear what you are saying Nicole but it just doesn't make any sense! Why are you so set on this? Why can't you leave this alone?"

"Because I've been made a fool of one too many times and I will not allow for you to be used to do it to me again! Troy, we were partners at the beginning of the year on this! You can't possibly back out on me now!" Nicole exclaimed, her own eyes flashing as their eyes met from clear across the room from each other, her plan of seduction to get her way with Troy clearly failing. "You won't even come near me right now! This is all her fault!"

Troy tasted blood in his mouth as he bit down on his tongue, curbing the words that threatened to spill out and ruin his control over the situation, whatever control that may be. "Nicole, for the last time, this isn't her fault! How could you and me not working out be anyone else's fault but our own? There's nothing between us anymore, I'm sorry. You know how I am. I've never promised you more than this."

There was a pause where Troy saw Nicole really thinking about his words as she finally and really gave up trying to argue and appear seductive, straightening up on the bed before she replied, "But I'm different than all those other girls! You know you and I could be wonderful together, long term, Troy. Why are you trying to fight this?"

"Why are you trying to fight for something with a guy who clearly isn't interested in long term? I know what is said about me Nicole and the whispers about me being afraid of commitment isn't that far off from the truth! Please, just forget what we started out to do together months ago and let's just talk about this philanthropy event, see if we can salvage that. We both know that's why I'm really here."

"I'll only let you back in on it if you follow through with everything Troy."

Resisting the urge to run his fist through the wall, Troy instead sighed, beginning to recount again as he uncurled his fist and wiggled his fingers to help re-center himself. "Look Nicole, I really am only here because my philanthropy chair seems to think he can't get something together fast enough and the brothers are out of ideas. It's important for Zeta Theta Mu to do a philanthropy event each semester at minimum to donate the money towards a charity just as it is for every other Greek organization on campus."

Nicole smirked. "Well I already knew that! Made me even more surprised when you flew off the handle the other day. I have what you need Troy and if I were you, I'd be doing a bit more groveling on your hands and knees over here instead of being so standoffish over there."

"Nicole, please, can you be an adult for a moment and discuss this without all your threats, snide comments and drama? Can Zeta Theta Mu still partner with Kappa Phi Sigma this semester for the project?"

Giving it consideration, Nicole paused as she surveyed Troy, disappointed when she really didn't see any part of the Troy she used to know, the party boy, the flirt, standing there in front of her. Instead all she saw was a guy who wanted to talk only business and that was it. "I haven't gotten much more done since our little fight the other night so I don't see why not. However, I reserve the rights to use the pictures I want in the calendar, regardless of what you think. You have no say and I mean none Troy."

Troy ran his right hand through his hair as he almost contemplated this offer, dismissing it though as soon as the thought crossed his mind. "Forget it Nicole. As desperate as I am, as my fraternity is, we aren't desperate enough to get involved in something we have no say in. I'd rather not get in trouble with the Greek Life advisor and the Greek Council which I think you will be in too for doing this."

"Troy, you did agree with me months ago though to be a part of this. You play the central role," Nicole reminded him, giving him a look that truly revealed the calculating mind that often hid behind her flirty nature. "I'd hate for something to happen because you got careless and forgot about your commitment to me that we cemented between the sheets. What would the Greek community think of you then? What would she think of you?"

The muscles in Troy's face tensed as he heard the threat that was issued loud and clear. "Either way I go, she gets hurt."

Nicole smirked. "It is quite the predicament but doing it my way would save your face and reputation on this street, throughout the school even. The other way, well, it's quite nasty. So what is it going to be Troy?"

A shiver involuntarily raced down Troy's spine as he heard the dark tone in Nicole's voice. "Give me some time Nicole. We aren't doing the philanthropy project with you on your terms but let me have some more time for the other part all right?"

"Thought you'd see it my way. Good enough Troy."

Without another word, Troy left Nicole's room before he lost his cool with her completely, his own mind whirling at the speed of light as to what he was supposed to do now. What would Zeta Theta Mu do now? How could Troy lead Zeta Theta Mu to success with only literally weeks left of the semester to get it done? What about Gabriella?

Deciding to follow his gut as to what to do, Troy head towards Gabriella's room, disappointed after a few knocks to find there was no answer and that the door was locked. Troy scribbled a quick note on her dry erase board before heading downstairs, pausing before he left as he heard her voice.

About forty minutes before, Gabriella had settled into the couch with Sharpay and Taylor on each side of her with Kelsi sitting on the floor nearby, laughing as they watched _Hitch_, Gabriella's specially made popcorn sitting in four bowls in each of their laps. The four girls had gathered together in an effort to spend some quality time with each other, something that had been missing for the past few weeks due to all of their schedules, at least real quality time with all of them together. Nothing felt better to Gabriella than just sitting there among her closest friends and best friend to escape the stress and worry that was school and also as of late her personal life.

"You have to admit, not having to go through a matchmaker to find a decent person to date is a very good thing," remarked Sharpay as she popped some popcorn into her mouth. "I think we all have done well on our own."

"Speak for yourself Sharpay! You have Zeke almost ready to ask you out long term, Taylor has Chad despite their bickering, and Kelsi has Ryan who simply adores her. I'm still rather single!" Gabriella contradicted, tearing her gaze from the large flat screen TV to look at her close friend.

"You so sure of that Gabriella? I'm pretty sure you're wrong there," Sharpay smirked, not surprised when Gabriella shook her head. "Come now, you can't be completely oblivious of Troy and all that is going on with him these days."

Kelsi's attention was stolen away from the movie as the side conversation became more interesting. "What exactly are you talking about Sharpay?"

"Just that there has been a lot of talk even in this very sorority house about how Troy seems to have changed and it was no overnight thing. Girls have been complaining that he doesn't seek them out anymore, that he flirts but it's not with the same edge as he used to have," Taylor supplied, joining in. "Of course none of them quite understand why but I hear the frat guys at Zeta Theta Mu have been talking about it having to do with Gabriella here. Chad at least told me that much."

Gabriella felt her cheeks warm at the very idea of all that focus being on her, some part of her wondering though if it was true. "It can't be true though. He's still going out with other girls, dancing and kissing his way through parties…"

"Maybe so but it's not done with the same spirit as before," Taylor answered. "Chad was talking the other night about how he thinks Jason is getting more game than Troy for once."

"Taylor McKessie did you just say 'game'?" Sharpay demanded, flabbergasted that such a slang word would come out of her friend's mouth. "You have been hanging out with Danforth way too long if you did."

Taylor gave them a sheepish smile as she shrugged. "What can I say? Kinda just slips into my vocab without me realizing."

Kelsi laughed. "Happens when you hang out with someone all the time."

The conversation dropped though as another favorite scene came on, Gabriella relieved to be out of the hot seat again. In truth, Gabriella had heard the whispers and the talk too but couldn't get herself to believe it was all because of her, even slightly because of her. To Gabriella, Troy was a wonderful guy when he wanted to be but still had this other part of him that Gabriella found she couldn't get herself to trust all the way. When they were together though Gabriella seldom thought about that other side though, only about the sweet side of him that she got to see.

It was just by chance that Gabriella happened to look up at the same time Troy passed by the open doorway that led into the main entry hall, his origin clearly from a room upstairs where he had been for a while Gabriella assumed since she hadn't seen him enter at any point of the movie. A frown appeared on her face as she thought of who Troy could have come over especially to see, somehow feeling upset over the fact that he didn't come there to see her. 'God, get a grip on yourself Gabriella!'

Instead of dwelling any further on her thoughts and the strange feelings she had never felt before she started getting interested in Troy as more than a group project member, Gabriella refocused on the movie and laughed at Will Smith's character's antics yet again.

That was how Troy found her, laughing along with the other three girls in the room with her, completely oblivious to him openly staring at her from the open doorway. He used it to his advantage to survey the way she laughed so freely, so openly, the way her entire demeanor spoke volumes of who she really was, so trusting, so sweet. 'She doesn't deserve any of this…'

It was Taylor who first spotted Troy, finding it very revealing to observe him so openly when he was clearly distracted with Gabriella, who was still focused on the movie. Despite what Chad had filled Taylor in on about the rumors and stuff going on in the frat house, it seemed to Taylor that Troy really felt more for Gabriella, something that Taylor was relieved to see. The tenderness she observed in his eyes as they were trained solely on Gabriella spoke more than any words could say and Taylor suddenly felt herself feel truly better about Gabriella and Troy's growing attraction.

Sure Taylor, Sharpay, and even Kelsi from time to time, loved to rib Gabriella about it but they all knew that Gabriella was taking her time for a reason, several actually. It was just a nice treat for Taylor to see Gabriella finally letting herself take a chance.

Eventually though, Troy felt himself being watched himself, and looked around, spying Taylor looking directly at him, a discreet smile on her face. Troy felt his cheeks flush as he was silently told that he was caught. Clearing his throat, Troy figured it was time to really make his presence known, to do what he came back to do. "Brie?"

Gabriella almost jumped at hearing his voice, having assumed that Troy left the house a little while ago when she saw him pass. "Troy?"

As their eyes met, Gabriella could tell that something was brewing inside him and silently got up, giving her friends an apologetic look, seeing the concern on Kelsi's face while Taylor and Sharpay both looked excited by her departure to be with Troy.

When Gabriella was by his side, Troy picked up her right hand and kissed the back of it, giving her a small smile before intertwining their fingers. "Is there somewhere we can talk?"

Gabriella nodded and decided on taking Troy to the backyard of the house, knowing no one usually was out there when it was a bit chillier than most of the girls liked. Troy followed behind her, letting her lead while keeping a hold on her hand, relieved when he was able to breathe in the fresh air although he still felt like he was choking with everything that he had on his mind to tell her.

Once they were seated on a bench under a small ivy-covered archway, Troy dragged in another deep breath of fresh air while Gabriella quietly waited, her nerves building the longer Troy took to say anything, even to look at her.

When Troy finally found his courage, Troy looked at Gabriella and almost lost his nerve all over again as he saw the innocence in her face, the concern she had in her eyes for him. "Brie, there are a few things I need to tell you and I don't know how you'll react."

Gabriella tried not to show any outward response but she was made even more nervous by his one sentence. "You can trust me Troy."

"I know I can Brie, that's the one thing I'm sure of in this, that I can trust you but I don't know if you can trust me," Troy replied, letting out a bit of a dry laugh at the beginning. "Zeke said something to me the other night that got me thinking. Maybe I have been more than unfair to you."

Blinking, Gabriella focused more on Troy's face that looked so open in that moment. "What are you talking about Troy?"

Troy tore his gaze away for a moment as he looked at anything but her, returning her gaze eventually as he realized he needed to see her expression, see how Gabriella reacted. "I've been treating this, what we share, like a casual thing when I feel far more than that. You have made me feel things that I haven't ever felt before Gabriella, teaching me things, making me want to do things that I've never had the desire to do before. The sheet changing for example? I've never cared what girls thought of my room let alone the condition of my sheets."

"Is that really what we're talking about here Troy? Sheets?"

He heard her disbelief and knew that his time was up. "No, and I think you are smart enough to see that."

"Please Troy, what's going on?"

Running his thumb over her knuckles, Troy decided to man up and do it. "In my high school years, I had a pretty serious relationship with this girl, Monica. She was my world. Every game she was there, every party she was there. We were inseparable, so in love. That's at least what I thought. Long story short, while I was away at basketball camp the summer before senior year at East High, she began fooling around with other guys. Not just one, multiple…"

Gabriella let Troy break off his words as Gabriella saw his eyes darken with real torture, feeling herself even wince at the agony Troy must be reliving in that moment. Following her gut, Gabriella reached out and brushed her left hand through his hair, running her fingers through it as she went, trying to send the waves of comfort to him that she hoped she was.

Troy leaned into her hand as it finally stilled on the side of his head, closing his eyes momentarily to only open them moments later as he refocused on her. "Monica continued cheating on me without me being the wiser until a month or so later when I finally caught her at the Homecoming Dance, getting fucked by some varsity football player. I forget his name, but there she was, screaming his name in ecstasy before she noticed I was there. She didn't expect me to be there. Chad and I had our annual weekend trip we usually took to go camping and it happened to be that weekend. Figuring I wouldn't be there, she thought sneaking outside of the gym and letting him screw her up against the building would be discreet enough."

"What happened next?"

"Well after the yelling, I admit I was not all that cool about that whole thing, I broke it off with her then and there, despite her pleading, looking more than silly to me considering her dress was still bunched up around her waist. For days, weeks, she tried to apologize but one of her close friends cemented it for me, coming clean to Chad who she was dating at the time about what exactly had been going on and for how long. I never looked at Monica the same way again."

"God Troy, I'm so sorry you had to go through that," murmured Gabriella, feeling her own heart break for him.

Troy just shook his head, giving her a sad expression. "I wish that was the end of it Gabriella. It got worse at the end of senior year. I spent months trying to get myself back together, trying to tell myself that not every girl was out to hurt me, that girls could be trusted… only to have my newfound trust in the opposite sex deflated in the form of Kathleen Weintrube, a goth beauty who I was strangely attracted to. Before it even really began though, I found out she was cheating too, but this time it was with another girl who didn't go to East. Turns out Kathleen wanted to use me as a cover for her lesbian relationship which obviously didn't help the pain and the real undying sense of not feeling like I could trust any female from that day on."

Gabriella leaned up a little and closed the distance between them, kissing his cheek softly before she ran her hand through his hair a few more times, letting it drop to her lap, next to their hands that still held onto each other's. "Wow, you went through a lot Troy. I'm glad you feel like you can share all this with me and I'm more than sorry that you had to go through all that. Not only did you have to contend with the pressure that you've been having from your dad most of your life, but also having all this heartache in your life. I really feel for you."

"I didn't tell you all this without a reason though Gabriella and I'm not sure if you'll ever look at me with that concern and trust in your eyes again after this."

Confusion ran rampant through Gabriella as she straightened at his words, hearing the real fear there. "Troy, I can understand after all that why you wouldn't want to commit to anyone, why you keep every female you date at arm's length. It makes sense, sort of how like I haven't dated really in college because of my own history via observation of my sisters' lives. We all have our baggage, our reasons to do what we do."

"That's the thing though Brie, you make me want to commit, more than I can even express. Everything about you disarms me, makes me think and feel in ways I never imagined that I could again but I know I'm not good for you Gabriella. Zeke's talk may have brought all that to the front of my mind but I've been thinking about it. As much of me as I have let you see, there's still another whole side to me that I don't ever want you to see."

"Troy, is that what this is about? Zeke? He's not going to interfere. We talked the other night and he knows that I really like you too, all of you."

This surprised Troy, who smiled at her confession, knowing that Gabriella did like him and felt similar things for him. However his excitement soon dwindled as he reminded himself again as to what they were doing out here. The smile slipped as he licked his lips, steeling himself for what he had to do. Just as he was about to open his mouth, a movement from the second story of the sorority house caught his eye, his gaze darting to the window to see a curtain being held open as he saw the familiar face, the last one he wanted to see right then.

Gabriella watched as Troy's breathing became more labored, as his eyes closed in almost pain, feeling his hand tighten on hers. "Troy? Please, calm down. Nothing can possibly be this bad to get yourself so worked up…"

When Troy's eyes opened again, Gabriella gasped as she saw the ice cold edge in them. "You don't get it do you? I'm trying to tell you that I'm no good for you! I won't ever change my playboy ways Gabriella, no matter what you think!"

Amazingly, it wasn't the hard steel in his voice that alarmed her or brought the tears to her eyes that she was fighting back. It was the hard jerk of his hand pulling out of hers, the light blue eyes that stared back at her. "Troy, I'm not asking you to! I know this is who you are, the good and the not so good and I have grown to care for you despite all of it."

Troy quickly stood up, not trusting himself to be near her. "Gabriella, don't make this any harder than it is already! There is no us, there hasn't ever been! I can't let you keep on believing that there is a value in fighting to get to know me better, to develop what we shared when I know it's a lost cause! I can't be what you want me to be. I can't be the guy that turns a new leaf with a snap of a finger. Real life is more complicated than that and I'm far more complicated than that. Just, do us both a favor and forget you ever knew me! It was great while it lasted but Gabriella, I never want to see you again!"

Before Gabriella could say anything to argue, Troy stormed away, leaving her behind as she stood up, leaning her back up against the archway as she found her legs too wobbly to even stand. Absently, Gabriella brushed away at the tears that freely fell now, her mind whirling as it tried to understand exactly what just happened, how the mood of their conversation went from being very sweet and serious to Troy telling her despite his earlier words that he didn't want to see her anymore.

As Troy continued to walk away from Gabriella, each step he took became heavier and heavier as he opted to go back to the frat house via the side gate instead of going through the house, not wanting to run into any of the sisters, one especially.

The view from the second story window though was nothing but wonderful for Nicole as she smiled in satisfaction as she saw the true, real tears roll down Gabriella's face as she continued to linger there, the spot Nicole knew Gabriella would have burned into her memory as the place Gabriella Montez had her heart broken by Troy Bolton, the one guy Gabriella had risked giving her heart to, even if she didn't know it herself.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Gabriella woke up the next morning exhausted from crying all night, her eyes dry as she forced them open. Even though she was half-tempted to stay curled up in bed all day and avoid dealing with anything that would bring back memories from the previous evening, she knew she shouldn't let this ruin her life because she was stronger than that.

Heaving herself up out of bed, she made her way towards the bathroom, quickly taking a shower and getting dressed before gathering her things and heading off to work.

When she arrived at the gym, Gabriella grimaced and cursed herself for ever deciding to take a job at the basketball gym as she heard a few basketballs bouncing on the main court, dreading the possibility that Troy could be there. Breathing a sigh of relief when she cracked open the door and saw a few random guys who weren't on the team playing a game, Gabriella quickly walked towards her office, praying that Troy wouldn't show up that day.

About an hour into her shift, Gabriella had managed to stay clear of the court, only checking a few times to make sure only students were using it. She knew that if she could just avoid the courts for the rest of her shift, even when Troy inevitably showed up to practice as he always did, they wouldn't have to cross paths. That was her plan for the remaining few hours of the shift, but her plans were ruined as she heard a knock on the door to the office.

"Can I help you?" Gabriella asked, setting her Marketing book down and spinning in her chair to see two lanky freshmen, one taller with red hair and the other a shorter blonde, both standing there dressed in short shorts and tank tops, racquets in hand.

"Yeah, can we use the racquetball courts?"

"Sure, which ones?" Gabriella questioned, grabbing her keys, praying that they wouldn't choose the courts that involved her walking right through the main basketball court to get to.

"The ones on that side of the gym," the taller one answered, pointing to the side Gabriella didn't want to go, causing her to curse to herself under her breath.

"Alright, no problem," she replied, attempting to put on a happy smile, leading the two out the hallway and towards the court.

Before she even pushed open the door, Gabriella could hear Troy's voice as he cheered on a teammate. Taking a deep breath, she finally went through the doors, doing her best to avoid any eye contact with Troy or whoever else he was playing with at all costs.

With her eyes focused on the ground, Gabriella speedily walked along the sidelines, never once looking up until she had pushed through the opposite doors and led the guys to the desired racquetball courts.

"Alright, just be sure to turn out the lights and close the door behind you when you are done," Gabriella instructed them before heading back down the hallway and through the gym, the whole time avoiding eye contact with anyone at all costs.

* * *

"Troy! Ball!" Hearing two loud claps Troy was brought out of his daze, lazily passing the ball to Chad who caught it with a confused look on his face.

"Dude, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Troy lied, trying to keep the attention off of him, not wanting anyone to know how much his conversation with Gabriella the night before was truly bugging him.

"You sure man? You haven't been yourself at all today, and you've been completely out of it for the past five minutes."

"I'm fine," Troy shrugged him off. "I'm gonna sit this game out though."

"Alright man. Sanders, you're in!" Chad called out to one of the guys who was shooting on the sidelines.

Grateful to be able to take a break and hopefully get his thoughts in order, Troy took off for the sidelines, digging in his bag for his Gatorade before taking a seat. Ever since he'd seen Gabriella walk through the gym earlier, clearly trying her best to seem invisible, Troy hadn't been able to focus. He could tell that his words the night before had hurt her, and even though his intention was to keep her away from him, to protect her, he couldn't help but want her to at least acknowledge his presence.

Troy got what he knew he deserved though when she'd completely ignored him. What made Troy really sick was the evident pain written on her face, the way she walked as if her world had ended, and it was tearing him up to know that it was all his doing. He couldn't remember a time where he'd been affected so much by a girl and the two hadn't even been in a relationship yet.

"Hey Troy, what's going on man?"

Troy brought his face up out of his hands, wishing he didn't as he saw Zeke stepping up into the bleachers to take a seat beside him.

"Nothin' man. Just taking a quick breather," Troy fibbed, glancing over to the door that Gabriella had went through moments earlier.

"Alright," Zeke agreed, despite catching onto the lie.

Troy focused his eyes on the court, watching the game that was going on for a few minutes. Unable to resist, Troy found his eyes wandering over to where he knew Gabriella was, wishing that she would come back into the gym and that he didn't have to be left with the last picture in his mind seeing the hurt etched on her face. Feeling eyes on him, Troy glanced back at Zeke to see he was looking at him knowingly, suddenly feeling even more guilty.

"What?" Troy asked annoyed, hoping that Zeke would leave him alone.

"What happened with Gabriella?"

'Damn,' Troy cursed to himself, his best friend seeing right through him. "Why are you asking me?" Troy replied, hoping to deter him. "She's your best friend. Why would I know what's going on with her?"

"Because you seem to know a lot about what's going on with Gabriella these days," Zeke answered unfazed.

"Well you'll probably be happy to know that isn't the case anymore. If you want to find something out, you'd better go ask Gabriella yourself."

Not giving Zeke a chance to respond, Troy stiffly stood up from the bench and ran out to the court, jumping into the new game, hoping to clear his thoughts of the one girl that had been plaguing his mind for weeks.

* * *

Gabriella breathed a sigh of relief as she finally made it back to her place, thankful that she hadn't crossed paths with Troy again while at work. She had never been more grateful for her shift to end as she was packed up and ready to leave work the second it was over, bolting out of the office and out a back door, completely avoiding the basketball court.

Walking up to her room, Gabriella tossed her bag on her bed, checking her email quickly before making her way back downstairs to get something to eat. Her plans to avoid talking with anyone were spoiled as Sharpay walked into the kitchen while Gabriella was making her sandwich, having told Sallie that she wanted to make it herself since the house cook was clearly bogged down with orders from other sisters.

"Hey Gabi."

Gabriella looked up, forcing a smile on her face. "Hey Shar."

"You okay?"

Cursing herself for wearing her emotions on her face, Gabriella nodded, hoping Sharpay would take the hint to leave her alone.

"You sure? We saw you run up to your room last night after talking to Troy and then you went straight to bed."

Gabriella just nodded, fighting off the tears that were threatening to prick her eyes as her conversation with Troy played in her mind once more. At the time, she had thought they were actually getting somewhere. Even a small part of her was hoping that maybe that conversation would be a turning point for them to get into a more serious relationship, surprising even herself as she had never felt that way before. Gabriella shook her head as she realized how it was a turning point, just in the other direction.

"Gabi?"

"Yeah?" Gabriella snapped out of her thoughts, seeing a hand wave in front of her face.

"You zoned out on me there."

"Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking," Gabriella trailed off, finishing her sandwich. After putting away the ingredients, Gabriella wrapped her sandwich up in a napkin and made her way back out the kitchen towards the stairs, only to stop as a hand gripped her forearm.

She turned to see Sharpay standing there, a worried look on her face. "Please Gabriella, talk to me. We are all worried about you."

"Shar, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Gabriella brushed her off once more, trying to make an escape to her room.

"Hold it!" Sharpay called out, stopping her from heading upstairs. "If you don't want to talk about it now, fine. I do know something is wrong though and I know the exact cure to make you feel better."

"And what's that?"

"I'm not saying yet," Sharpay grinned teasingly at Gabriella's annoyed look. "Let's go though!" Sharpay took Gabriella's forearm in her hand and guided her out the door.

"Can I at least finish my sandwich?" Gabriella asked, still being dragged by Sharpay.

"Yup," Sharpay replied, still tugging on Gabriella but at a slower pace than earlier. "You can eat on the way."

* * *

"Sharpay, what are we doing here?" Gabriella groaned as they pulled up outside of the local movie rental store.

"Girls' night," Sharpay chirped happily, hopping out of her bright pink convertible, not waiting for Gabriella as she made her way inside.

Groaning, Gabriella stepped out of the car, dragging her feet as she walked into the store. Rolling her eyes as she saw Sharpay happily perusing through the Romance section, Gabriella slowly walked towards her, wishing for some way out of this evening Sharpay was planning.

"Okay so I know you don't want to tell me what's going on with you, but tell me this. Are you in a _How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days_ mood or in a _Notebook_ type of mood?"

"How about something like _Carrie_?"

That surprised Sharpay for a moment but the blonde was firm about that not being a choice.

"Sharpay I really don't want to wa-,"

"Just pick one Gabriella. Whether or not you want to talk, we are having a Girls' Night because it's Saturday and we need to hang out, not to mention your first movie choice tips me off to the cause of your mood," Sharpay interrupted her impatiently.

"Fine, the first one."

"I knew you'd come around," Sharpay smiled, plucking the DVD off the shelf. "Now for the essentials."

Walking towards the front of the store, Sharpay stopped at the snack section, grabbing four small tubs of ice cream, two bags of popcorn, and a few random bags of candy.

"You're going to eat all of that?" Gabriella asked as her eyes widened.

"No, we are," Sharpay quickly corrected. "These are well known ingredients to girls' nights. If we can't get you to talk about whatever it is that is going on with you, at least you will have this comfort movie and comfort food. Let's go!" Sharpay held up each item respectively with a big smile before they checked out and left the store.

* * *

Over two hours later, Gabriella found herself seated on the couch, Sharpay on her right and Taylor on her left with Kelsi sitting in the chair to the left of the couch, all with a pint of ice cream in hand and their eyes focused on the movie. Gabriella had spent the whole time keeping her thoughts to herself despite the many curious looks and attempts from the others to get her to tell them what happened the night before with Troy.

In the end though, her efforts failed during the scene where Ben chases Andie outside, Gabriella's thoughts immediately returning to the previous night's conversation with Troy and how he took off, leaving her with a broken heart.

Gabriella blinked her eyes quickly, a heat forming behind her eyelids as tears continued to well up before one finally fell down her cheek, leaving a trail behind it that a few more followed. Trying to hold back her tears, Gabriella placed her ice cream on the table in front of her and made her way to get up, only to catch Taylor's attention.

"Gabi, what's wrong?" Taylor asked, causing Gabriella to curse to herself as that caught the attention of the other two in the room.

"Nothing, I'm just going to the bathroom," Gabriella choked out, failing miserably at her attempts to hide the sadness in her voice.

"No you're not, sit back down," Sharpay told her, tugging her arm so she plopped back on the couch between them. "Now, what's going on? I know, you aren't the type to cry in movies like this, so spill."

"It's nothing Shar, really I'm fine."

"You really think I'm going to believe that lie? I've known all day that something's wrong. It has been since last night and your initial movie suggestion of _Carrie_ only confirms that it has everything to do with a certain frat president."

Gabriella reached her hand up to brush away some tears, uncertain if she really wanted to talk about Troy at the moment.

"Gabi, we're here for you. We know something happened with Troy. Just talk to us," Taylor pleaded, putting her arm around Gabriella, rubbing her back as Gabriella fought her tears.

As she looked back up, Gabriella was surprised to see the TV now off, Sharpay on one side, Taylor on the other, each with their hands gently rubbing her back as Kelsi sat in front of her, one hand on her knee.

"He didn't hurt you did he? Cause I'll chase him down and kick his playboy ass myself," Sharpay threatened, earning a giggle from Gabriella through her tears and a roll of the eyes from both Kelsi and Taylor.

"No, he didn't hurt me like you're thinking," Gabriella defended him. "He wouldn't do that ever."

"Then what happened?" Kelsi asked, worried for her friend.

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know," Gabriella choked out, brushing away a few more tears. "One minute, everything is going great, and then the next he takes off without any real warning."

"He ditched you? Did he tell you why?"

Gabriella shook her head at Sharpay's question. "No, he just left. I mean, for a second there, I thought that maybe he felt something for me but then he just suddenly got up and told me to stay away from him."

"He told you to stay away?!" Gabriella nodded at Sharpay's shocked question. "That boy better hope I don't see him in the next few days."

"No Shar, just leave him alone."

"Gabi," she protested, turning slightly in her place on the couch to look at Gabriella who was currently leaning her head on Taylor's shoulder. "You are one of my closest friends and you don't deserve to be treated like this. He needs to know that if he says some crap to you like that, then he has to face me."

"Sharpay, just leave that alone for a second. If she wants us to leave him alone about this then we need to do as she asks," Taylor stepped in, receiving a grateful smile from Gabriella as she pulled away from Taylor's half embrace.

"Fine," Sharpay sighed, looking back to her distraught friend. "So have you seen him since last night?"

Gabriella nodded. "He was at the gym today but I didn't really see him too much. I did my best to stay away," Gabriella told them, a stray tear falling down her face. "I don't even know why I'm crying," she half-laughed, wiping away more tears. "It's not like he cares. And here I thought last night that things actually might start to work out with him. How crazy was I? Troy is the 'Big Man On Campus' and I'm just this little blip on the Greek radar."

"Stop saying that Gabriella, you aren't as insignificant as you may think, especially these days as more Greeks know who you are. Maybe things still can work out," Taylor supplied optimistically, sighing in defeat as Gabriella shook her head.

"No, I think we're pretty much done. I don't know why I was so stupid to even think I had a shot," Gabriella admitted dejectedly.

"Now there's where you are completely wrong. You do have a legitimate shot and if he's too stupid to see how amazing you are, then he doesn't deserve you," Kelsi told her, hoping to console her.

"Kelsi's right. Troy has another thing coming if he thinks he can ever find someone as beautiful as you, both inside and out," Taylor added, rubbing her back gently.

"Yeah, that boy is a royal idiot for leaving you last night and making you feel this way. He'd better hope, for his sake, that I don't see him around in the next few days. Troy made a stupid mistake and I hope he realizes that before I have to step in and make him realize that."

"Shar, but really, you—"

"No Gabi," Sharpay continued, not really fazed by the interruption, "I get, you don't want me to confront him. And I won't, but if I do happen to see him, I can't promise that I won't let him know what an asinine thing he did and make him feel miserable for how he treated you. You deserve better than that Gabi and I'm not one to sit by and let him get away with this."

Realizing she had no chance of changing Sharpay's mind, Gabriella decided to just let it go and try to get away for a bit. She hated crying in front of people and this was getting to be too much. "Thanks guys, I appreciate your concern, but if it's okay with you, I'm going to go to bed."

"We've still got ice cream left and the rest of the movie," Sharpay protested, not wanting to see her leave in this state.

"I know. I didn't get much sleep last night and I really need to go crash for the night," she said, standing up from the couch.

Taylor nodded sympathetically, standing up next to her and pulling her into a hug. "We understand Gabriella. Get some rest. If you need us we're here."

"Yeah, just right down the hall, don't forget," Sharpay added.

Gabriella let a small smile form on her face, giving Sharpay a hug. "I don't think anyone cannot know which room is yours with all the pink and glitter, not to mention the huge name display on the door," Gabriella joked, earning a laugh from each of the girls, all of them glad to see her coming around a little.

"I can decorate your door anytime you want, you know."

"I do know that but I prefer to keep my door from your bedazzling talents," Gabriella responded as Sharpay scoffed.

"Okay, enough about the door decorating, let's let her get some sleep," Kelsi jumped in, pulling Gabriella into a hug. "I'm just a phone call away if you need me."

The two shared a small smile before Gabriella said, "I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."

"Night Gabi," the girls chorused.

"Night!" Gabriella gave a small wave, not missing the worried looks etched on each of her close friends' faces. With one last forced smile, Gabriella made her way through the living room and up to her room, finally escaping.

Closing the door, Gabriella flopped onto her bed, not even bothering to change into pajamas as she curled up into a ball, tears finally freely falling. She'd spent most of the day fighting them, and she'd almost broken down in front of her friends, but now in the safety of her room, Gabriella finally let herself go.

It had been a long day and as much as she wanted to sleep, the idea seemed so farfetched as her mind was filled with thoughts of the blue-eyed guy who had broken her heart. It was going to be another long night.

* * *

After spending most of his day playing basketball, Troy found himself staring at the exhibition game between the Lakers and Warriors on the TV screen. His eyes were on the screen, but his mind was far from what was going on in the game. If someone would have asked him the score or who made the last shot, Troy would have no clue as his thoughts were plagued with those of Gabriella.

He couldn't get her off his mind as it was filled with memories of her—the first time he met her the morning after Kappa Phi Sigma's first party of the year, the time they'd kissed outside the club, their breakfast date the morning after the party at Zeta Theta Mu…and the way her face looked the previous night when he told her to stay away from him. That same look was haunting him now. Troy wished he would have kept from looking at her when he told her that the night before. It would have been so much easier that way. But now, that heartbroken look was all he remembered.

"Hey man, what's the score?"

Troy blinked his eyes a few times, coming out of his daze to glance to his right where Zeke was sitting on the couch next to him, remote in hand as he turned up the volume.

"Um," Troy snapped out of it, sitting up a little and looking at the TV, cursing under his breath as he saw it was commercial. "I don't know what the score is."

"Seriously?" Zeke turned to look at him, a surprised look on his face. "How do you not know the score of the game? It's the Lakers!"

"Yeah, I know, I guess I just wasn't paying much attention," Troy muttered, glad to see the game come back from commercial.

"You feeling okay man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Troy lied, scooting forward on the couch to appear interested in the game, grateful when the sound of Zeke's phone ringing filled the room.

"Hey Shar," Zeke softly greeted, causing Troy to momentarily smirk at how whipped Zeke sounded just from that greeting alone.

Doing his best to ignore the conversation next to him as to not intrude, Troy stared at the TV once again, finally focusing in on the game. His attention though was drawn away once more a few seconds later.

"Well, what's going on? Is she okay?"

Hearing the concern in Zeke's voice, Troy turned to look at Zeke, knowing that it had to be Gabriella the two were talking about, feeling the wave of guilt slam into him yet again.

"But, she doesn't just break down like that Shar. Where is she now? Yeah, yeah, I'll be right over. Thanks for letting me know."

As Zeke snapped his phone shut, Troy looked over at him, trying to keep his face neutral, only to receive a glare in return.

"Everything okay?" Troy asked, the worry evident in his tone as he knew something was going on with Gabriella.

Zeke shook his head, looking like he was fighting with what he wanted to say. Finally standing up, he looked back at Troy with anger in his eyes.

"Look, I don't know what you did to her, but she's all torn up…worse than any of us have ever seen her. So I'm going to go over there, because she comes first, but you better hope she is okay. You're one of my best friends Troy but if I find out you've hurt her, guaranteed you and I are going to have some problems."

And with that final threat, Zeke slipped his phone back in his pocket before walking out of the room, the sound of the door slamming in the background causing Troy to wince. Troy sighed, standing up making his way up to his room and into bed, glad the day was finally ending but also dreading what the next day would bring.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"Zeke, as much as I love you, you're starting to drive me insane. I'm fine, really. After I sobbed all over you into the early morning I talked to Daniella this morning before work and I, I just can't talk about this anymore, I'm sorry," Gabriella got out, keeping her eyes trained on the sidewalk in front of her. "Whatever doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right?"

Zeke heard Gabriella's assertive words but knew she said them with little conviction. "I'm sorry, I'm trying not to bug you but I'm concerned, all of us are. Hell, Sharpay is more worried about you than what she's wearing to the Greek barbeque today."

"That is something," Gabriella conceded as they continued to walk back to Greek Row from the gym where Zeke had been waiting for her after her work shift was done. "It's Sunday Zeke, the day God declared should be a day of rest. Shouldn't that also mean I get a rest from all these stupid thoughts about a guy who was never meant to be mine?"

Seeing Gabriella begin to fold under the weight of the emotions she was keeping locked away on her shoulders, Zeke wrapped an arm around her, making sure to match his pace with hers while he shifted his duffel bag on his right shoulder. "Unfortunately that term 'rest' doesn't apply to many things on any day, including thoughts. Troy is an idiot, plain and simple."

Gabriella nodded her head. "So you and Sharpay and Taylor and Kelsi, and Daniella have all said. If that's true then, what does that make me for falling for him?"

"His latest victim sadly," Zeke replied, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "Troy's charm won you over, like I was afraid it would. I honestly had hoped he would take better care of you though, especially knowing how much you mean to me."

"Well, I know better now if that counts at all. Mistakes happen but as long as you learn from them and move on, they aren't really bad mistakes."

"Very true, young wise one."

"Shut up," Gabriella shot back, elbowing Zeke lightly in the side before she looked up to where they were and stopped, seeing Greek Row blocked off completely except to foot traffic. "Crap!"

Zeke stopped with her and glanced up to see what had freaked Gabriella out, seeing the crowd of Greeks socializing on the street, already busy socializing, dancing, and eating. "What's wrong? If it's Troy, there's so many people out there that he won't see us and even if he does, I doubt he'll be stupid enough to approach you when I'm with you."

Seeing that Gabriella really didn't have any other choice, she reluctantly began walking again, Zeke even closer by her side, hating the fact that she had no real sanctuary to mend her wounds from two nights ago and also cursing her luck for there being a Greek barbeque now of all times, when she just wanted to disappear.

As they walked closer to the Kappa Phi Sigma house, Gabriella increasingly felt more and more stares trained on her. Gathering her courage, Gabriella looked up and gazed around her, seeing in fact that there were quite a number of people staring at her, mostly girls, almost as if they were scrutinizing her. "What the hell? This is the last thing I need!"

Hearing Gabriella's muttering, Zeke looked up and saw the same thing, puzzled by the behavior of their fellow Greeks who were busily talking to each other while they kept Gabriella in their sights. Zeke awkwardly saw some Zeta Theta Mu brothers and called a greeting, relieved when they returned it with no weirdness about them.

"They're all staring at the freak who thought she saw something in the Greek God Troy Bolton that was special to only find out he was a frog in the end."

After he cleared his throat, Zeke voiced his disagreement. "I don't think that's it Gabs. Troy may be a bastard but he's not doing the talking, I had to drag stuff out of him yesterday. I'm afraid to say it but I think something else is going on, something entirely different than you and Troy."

Gabriella groaned, not even wanting to think of the possibilities. She was silent as they reached the front door to the Kappa Phi Sigma house, entering as quickly as possible, barely hearing Zeke close the door behind her as Gabriella walked in on an even worse situation than outside.

It was like one of those scenes from a movie where a character walks into a room and the noise that was there before gets sucked out of the room completely, leaving such tense silence that one could probably hear a needle hit the floor. Growing increasingly uncomfortable when her own sorority sisters were just staring at her, none of them saying anything, Gabriella fidgeted before she decided to head to the safety of her room. With every step she took though she knew the sisters that were lounging around downstairs were following her, up until she vanished from their sight.

Once upstairs, the stares continued, unnerving Gabriella who suddenly felt naked, glancing down to ensure she really was wearing clothes.

"What the hell is going on?"

Gabriella heard Zeke's question and had no answer. All she could think about having happened recently to cause such a stir is what happened with Troy but that didn't really warrant disgusted stares like what she had been getting here in the house.

When she reached her room though, Zeke's question was answered by the multiple copies of a picture of Gabriella laying on a beach towel, her body positioned seductively, without a stitch of clothing on, all taped on her door like wrapping paper. Gabriella's cheeks flamed but not as hot as her anger ran at the person who dared to use their spare time to photo shop Gabriella's head on another woman's body. Problem was, Gabriella had no idea who would be so cruel.

"Gabs…"

"No Zeke, it isn't me," Gabriella stated as she stared at one of the copies, the image burning itself in her mind before she began ripping them all down.

Quickly on the heels of her anger though came mortification and for that she hurried her efforts to rip down the pictures and kicked the copies inside her door once she got it unlocked, devastated to find even more waiting for her that must have been slipped under her door. Once she felt like she got everything she could, Gabriella entered her room and went straight for her bed, leaving Zeke to close the door behind them as he followed her in.

Zeke felt his own mix of emotions whirl around faster inside him than a blender set on high. "Gabs, I'm going to find out who did this to you and I'll…"

"Don't Zeke, it'll be a waste of energy," Gabriella said, fighting so hard to hide the tears that blurred her vision of her college best friend. "For all I know, the entire sorority could have been in on this or even your frat or another frat or sorority or just one person. We won't be able to figure this out and I honestly don't care. It's just another notch to add to my list of reasons why I don't belong here and why this is the worst weekend of my entire life!"

His heart truly went out to his best friend, seeing her try to remain strong but losing the battle. When Zeke sat down next to Gabriella on the extra long twin, she pulled her body into itself so that her knees were tucked up right under her chin, tears beginning to fall more rapidly down her cheeks and then onto her legs and arms as she laid her head there on her raised knees.

"Maybe everyone in the house and out on Greek Row were staring at you for something else. Maybe no one else saw those pictures," Zeke offered, knowing Gabriella would find no comfort in his weak hypothesis. "It's possible."

"It is possible, you're right, but my gut tells me that this was what it was all about," Gabriella returned, wiping away her tears and taking in a deep breath to try to stop a sob before gesturing to the papers littering her floor. "Part of me just wants to leave this place all together Zeke, to get away. It's clear I'm not wanted and I don't know if I can finish the year with my sanity intact let alone my grades."

"You mean the sorority, right?"

Gabriella shook her head, wiping away more tears. "No, everything here. Drop from the sorority, leave campus, have a senior year do-over somewhere else, maybe at U of A back home."

Zeke sat there staring at Gabriella as if she grew a second and third head. "Are you seriously thinking of dropping everything over this? Over Troy and some stupid prank?"

"That's just it! Neither of those things is some little thing like failing a quiz that's less than five percent of your semester grade. They are huge Zeke!" Gabriella heard the hysterical edge in her voice and stopped talking, dragging in air through her lungs while she tried to regain control. When she had managed to recompose herself, Gabriella tried again. "The prank is just a representation of how little respect I have in this house, even if it wasn't someone here that made it. The fact that sisters probably saw this and instead of taking it down, left it up and started gossiping about it, assuming that really was me. What happened with Troy, Zeke, it's like having an open gash right over my heart and then pouring salt in it whenever I see him. It stings, it burns, it's causing so much turmoil. I haven't slept really since Friday night!"

Before Zeke could do anything, Gabriella broke down into sobs again, her emotional and mental strength quickly fading as the physical exhaustion began taking its toll too, leaving Gabriella defenseless against her warring emotions.

Without another word, Zeke scooted over on the bed and pulled Gabriella's shaking form into his side, wrapping his arms around her as she cried into his shirt, soaking it almost immediately as Zeke continued to run a hand up and down her back. After what seemed like forever, Gabriella finally quieted, her breathing becoming more even. "Gabs?"

When there was no response, Zeke pulled away slightly and saw that Gabriella was in fact asleep, having the first peaceful look on her face that he had seen in the last twenty-four hours or so. Relieved that she was able to at least get this much sleep, even if she cried herself to sleep, Zeke leaned back up against the wall and kept Gabriella securely wrapped in his hold, a guardian watching over a sleeping but damaged angel.

* * *

Troy groaned as he heard what seemed like the thirtieth knock on his door. "Go away!"

"Troy, come on man, open up!" Chad called out through the door. "Jason told me all about how you told everyone you aren't going out there to the barbeque today. Something is clearly wrong. Open up!"

"Leave me alone Chad, please," Troy begged, watching the scene unfolding out on Greek Row like a removed observer instead of someone who belonged there with the masses. "I need to sit this one out."

"That's fine, I'm not here to drag you to the barbeque Troy. I just, and heaven help me because I know I'm sounding like a chick, I want to make sure you are okay in there. You haven't been yourself and I need to make sure you aren't in there trying to hang yourself or anything, especially without me knowing why."

Troy let out a colorful swear as he turned from his view of the street and walked to the door, twisting the handle just enough to pop the lock before he went back to his spot that he had been standing in for a while. "See? I'm alive, no noose anywhere. You can go now."

Chad just shook his head, shutting the door behind him. "Do I look like a servant you can dismiss that easily? Okay, don't answer that. Look, I'm worried about you, Jason's worried about you. A few of the other brothers are worried about you."

"I bet Zeke isn't. Doesn't that tell you something Chad?"

"It tells me he's part of the problem but not that he doesn't care Troy. You and Zeke have been close friends along with me and J for a while now. It's not going to end over a girl."

Troy glanced over at Chad who now stood next to him. "So he told you about Gabriella?"

"Nope, he didn't have to. Jason and I could see this coming for a while now but didn't expect it to happen so soon, so explosively. Zeke won't talk to Jason about what's going on just like you won't me right now. What just happened? You and Gabriella seemed to be doing well just a few days ago."

Clenching his jaw as he experienced the memory again of his last spoken words with Gabriella, Troy rolled his head around to try to help the tenseness that resided in his neck. "We were but something came up, something I'm not proud of but had to be done, for her sake. I'm not any good for her anyway Chad. Zeke has every right to be pissed at me, he warned me, and I went right by his warning, throwing our friendship on the line when this failed between me and her."

Trying to understand, Chad tried to listen to every nuance of what Troy had to say but found himself still confused. "What exactly came up that has left you feeling like shit for the past few days? If it was an accident, I'm sure it can be fixed. If Gabriella caught you in bed with another girl, that's a bit trickier but…"

"It wasn't anything like that Chad. I really was coming around to actually, this seems so long ago now, but I wanted to ask her to be my girlfriend. How grade school of me right?"

Silence hung between the two guys, Troy looking back at Chad only to see Chad staring open mouthed at him. Troy sighed, learning his two hands against the top of the doorframe in front of him, breathing in the fresh air through the open door while he closed his eyes, feeling like the scum he knew he was.

"Troy, that's huge."

Troy turned his head to see Chad still looking dumbstruck. "You think? Never going to happen now though man, I blew it."

More moments passed before Chad stepped outside through the other open door and onto the balcony, stepping in front of Troy. "You keep talking about blowing it with her. What happened Troy? If you were set to ask her to be serious, what could have stopped you after all this time of staying as far away from relationships as possible?"

"My own stupidity, lack of a spine, and every ounce of idiocy in my body."

Chad saw the great deal of self-hatred Troy possessed for himself then and knew that he had never seen Troy in this bad of shape before, even when Troy's father ripped into Troy in the worst ways for not doing well enough in basketball or school. The dark circles under Troy's now dull blue eyes told the story of how little he had slept, the stubble along his jaw another sign that Troy had no care as to how he looked at the moment.

When a loud knock was heard on the door again, Troy swore. "Get the fuck out of here, whoever you are!"

"Troy, it's me, Jason. Come on man, you need to see this!"

Seeing Troy not moving but hearing the urgency in Jason's usually even voice, Chad went back inside Troy's room to open the door only to have Jason thrust a piece of paper into his hand. "What is this?"

Jason waited for Chad to unfold it, growing more nervous about Troy's reaction once he figured out what was being passed out among all the Greeks at the barbeque. "It's Gabriella."

Chad's eyes almost bugged out as he stared at the picture in front of him, knowing for sure Troy would lose it. Quickly, Chad debated the pros and cons of showing it to Troy considering what was already going on with him and decided to not show it just then.

Almost sensing Chad's decision though, Troy pushed off the door frame and turned to look at Jason and Chad. "What is it?"

"Nothing man, nothing for you to worry about," Chad replied, slipping the folded paper into his back pocket.

Troy narrowed his eyes on Chad, seeing right through the lie. "We've known each other for how long now Chad? You still can't lie to me worth shit. Hand it over, whatever it is. Jason is clearly nervous about it but knew I had to know and it seems you are in agreement."

With a sigh, Chad dug the paper out and handed it over, backing up out of instinct.

After he unfolded the paper, Troy's heart stopped along with his breathing. "Gabriella? Nude?"

"Everyone is talking about it man," Jason volunteered.

The paper crumpled in Troy's fist after one more perusal, realizing then that it wasn't a real picture of Gabriella without clothes on but a doctored photo. "Who the hell would…I'm going to fucking kill her!"

Before Jason or Chad saw it coming, Troy raced between them and left both his room and the Zeta Theta Mu house far behind him in the matter of seconds, instantly scanning the crowd for the culprit he knew with almost total certainty did this. About ten yards away, talking to some of the Kappa Phi Sigma sisters, he spotted the light brown hair before his gaze landed on Nicole's face, a certain look of smugness on her face.

Without another thought, Troy marched right over and let all hell loose, not caring that they were in the middle of a Greek event or that he was representing his fraternity in every word and choice he made in the moment. To Troy, all that mattered was getting answers from the one person he knew had them. "Why Nicole? Why did you do it?"

Nicole glanced over at Troy and saw the anger there. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's bullshit Nicole and you know it just as well as I do! We had a deal!"

"We did, I know we did, but you broke it, simple as that."

Troy straightened at this, knowing that wasn't the case at all. "Rewind that for me. I broke the deal? I hurt an innocent woman because of you, because of our deal! You were supposed to uphold your end and stop this stupid crap!"

"Troy, calm down," Nicole started, seeing more eyes focus on their argument. "Now isn't the time or place to be talking about this. Let's talk about it later okay?"

As soon as Troy felt Nicole's fingertips on his chest, Troy backed up, unable to barely control his urge to swat her hand away, something that would go against his belief in never raising a hand to a woman. "No, not okay. I know you manipulated that picture of Gabriella that is going around and I want to know why. Why, after everything you have put me through, did you break your word to me and still do this?"

"I don't know what you are talking about Troy, honestly. If it has something to do with that nude picture your little girlfriend took that has nothing to do with me. Anyone could have unleashed that picture if it fell into the wrong hands."

"You are one sick bitch, you know that Nicole? No matter how much you may be jealous of Gabriella, you are her sorority sister, and the president of your sorority on top of that! How is gunning for your fellow sister within proper conduct of being a sister? I know that would be a direct violation in a fraternity."

Nicole made sure to keep her innocent look firmly in place as she faced off with Troy, seeing him get more heated as the seconds went by. "Well what Gabriella did by posing for that picture is an utter disgrace! It's not even artsy! She's a disgrace to our sorority and we will make sure that it is taken care of."

"Argh, will you just stop your conniving lies for a second and look at who you are talking to? I'm the one you ran those stupid bikini and boxer pictures by for the stupid philanthropy project we were supposed to do together and I told you using pictures without consent was wrong and broke so many rules!"

"Exactly! I didn't use any pictures that weren't posed for. I have no idea when and where Gabriella took this picture. Certainly wasn't for the calendar."

Troy saw the lies in Nicole's eyes and felt so disgusted with her and himself for ever being in league with her. "Cut the crap Nicole. That isn't even Gabriella's body! It's her face but you can clearly see that it's not her body. It is clearly sloppy editing that's apparent to anyone who takes a second to really look at it."

"And how exactly would you know that isn't her body? It's not like the prude would let you into her pants Troy," Nicole challenged, becoming more annoyed by the scene Troy was causing.

Biting his tongue to keep his original answer at bay, Troy quickly thought about the risk in revealing the one bit that would clear Gabriella of this picture before deciding it was worth it. "I've seen her naked body Nicole and this fake one doesn't do it justice. Not only have I seen it, I studied it in person. She has a birthmark on the side of her left breast, actually on her side, a bit below her armpit. It should be clearly visible in this picture with the way her supposed arm is laid above her head but it isn't. It's a fraud and so are you."

There was silence among everyone watching, including a certain brunette with red rimmed eyes who had joined the group watching Nicole and Troy face off just a few moments before. No one noticed Gabriella though as all the attention was on the two presidents who were clearly in a faceoff.

"You slept with her, didn't you?" Nicole accused. "Worse yet, you enjoyed it!"

Troy let out a dry laugh, shaking his head. "No, I didn't make love with her Nicole," Troy replied, taking satisfaction in knowing that Nicole understood his dig there as he never called sex with her in any such affectionate manner. "I respect Gabriella enough to not push her nor take advantage of her when she's drunk and passed out on my bed. I saw her only because I was changing her into something more comfortable. Yes, it was a bit pervy to stare at her but I couldn't help it, she's quite the beauty."

"You son of a bitch…"

"Hey now, watch that tongue of yours Nicole. Wouldn't want to show people what a conniving bitch you really are."

"Don't talk to me like you're so innocent here either Troy! You were supposed to make her fall for you and then break her heart! That was the deal, the only reason why you even realized the loser was alive! You could have done that ages ago but you dragged all this on, way longer than necessary in my opinion. If anything, you taking so long only made it hurt worse for the poor girl."

Zeke, who had chased Gabriella through the crowd after she had woken up and ran out of the house after only an hour long nap, felt both of his hands curl at his sides as he listened to Nicole's words. As he stood slightly behind his college best friend who wanted to run away from anything that was Greek and reminded her of Troy, Zeke began to see red as he saw no denial to Nicole's accusations on Troy's face, not an ounce. "You jerk!"

The deep voice that definitely didn't belong to Nicole startled Troy, reminding him that there could be any number of people watching him face off with Nicole. By the time he looked in the right direction of where the voice came from, Zeke was already coming at him, knocking him to the ground.

"I told you not to mess with Gabriella," Zeke yelled, connecting his right fist with Troy's jaw, "that she was different!" Zeke continued, grabbing Troy by the collar, picking him up and punching him once more. "You promised me, one of your own best friends, that you wouldn't but all this time you were in league with this bitch to play mind games with one of my best friends!"

Zeke was so enraged that he didn't notice that Troy wasn't fighting back, that he wasn't trying to protect himself as Zeke dragged Troy back up again and threw another hard punch to Troy's abdominal region.

Gabriella though, after getting over the shock of seeing Zeke get so angry, so fast, and getting over her own shock of hearing everything she had, knowing now that whatever she shared with Troy had all been preplanned by him and Nicole for their sick amusement, saw what was happening and threw aside her own embarrassment and horror to stop the fight.

She reached Zeke's side just after Zeke landed another blow, focusing her attention on Zeke only, knowing she'd lose her strength if she looked at Troy just then. "Zeke, stop! Zeke, you have to stop this now!"

"This asshole made a fool out of both of us Gabs! He has to pay!" Zeke protested, holding Troy now in a tight grip by the ripped collar of Troy's shirt.

"Zeke, please, this isn't the way to do it and I don't want you to do this, please," Gabriella pleaded, gathering her courage to lay her hand softly over Zeke's right hand that seemed so tense in that moment, clenching the fabric of Troy's t-shirt so tightly. "Let Troy go."

Sharpay quickly joined Gabriella's efforts, more than pissed at Troy and Nicole both but seeing enough of Gabriella's thinking to fully agree on ending the fight. "Come on Zeke, let him go. Gabi is right."

Zeke's dark glare shifted from Troy who was just staring back at him, pain and resignation in his eyes, to look at Sharpay and then Gabriella who looked in that moment like an entirely different woman than the one who had cried herself to sleep in his arms just a while ago. This woman was entirely different and seemed to have strength enough for both of them just then to get through the moment intact. "Are you sure?"

Gabriella nodded, swallowing against the tightness in her throat. "Let him go Zeke, please."

With a nod, Zeke did what Gabriella requested, shooting Troy one last dark look. "Don't you ever dare to call me your friend again Bolton, not after this."

Troy wiped at the blood he felt oozing from cuts he received from Zeke's solid blows and watched as Sharpay began to lead Zeke away, leaving Gabriella to turn her attention back on Troy, steeling herself against the soft emotions to run to him and check his injuries. "I thought you were better than this Troy, I really did."

"Brie, please, let me explain," Troy started, only to be silenced by a shake of her head.

"No, I have no reason to listen to you now. Any respect you earned in my books you lost just now. How much of what you told me was lies Troy? Did you lie about your family, your childhood, even how you like your coffee? To me, it's all lies, every single thing you've ever uttered to me but I strangely have the need to thank you and Nicole both."

"Thank us?" Nicole asked, clearly dumbfounded. "For what?"

"For reminding me of why I'm here, why I've stayed clear away from guys all these years, why I'm going to make it where my sisters before me didn't. You've both taught me a lesson I won't soon forget so thank you."

With that, Gabriella turned around and walked towards where Zeke and Sharpay had stopped walking, with Taylor by their side. She stopped though as she heard Troy call out her name, vulnerability clear in his voice.

"Gabriella, Brie, wait! Please, let me talk to you for just five minutes!"

Unable to turn around, Gabriella focused on the ground in front of her, grateful at this point that she had no more tears to cry, helping her anger and resentment rule her words and thoughts just then. Instead, Gabriella spoke to Troy with her back turned to him in a voice that was loud enough for him to hear.

"I meant it when I told Zeke that I wanted him to stop just now. I wanted him to stop though not because I cared to protect you but because I didn't want him giving you the physical punishment you feel you deserved for what you know you did wrong. You don't get to get off guilt free for this Troy. This isn't some easy, small thing that you've done. No, this is much bigger than I think you even realized it would be and if you care at all for me like you claimed once upon a time, well, I hope this eats at you just as much as your words from two nights ago ate me up."

And with that, Gabriella walked away, the crowd that had formed around the fight parting ways so she could pass by with Taylor, Zeke, and Sharpay right by her side, leaving the spectators speechless. None of them would have ever expected for the Golden One both on the basketball court and in the Greek community to have even the smallest feelings for someone as unlikely as Gabriella. What was even more surprising though was the edge they all saw emerge from the once quiet woman who blended into the background. Those days were over though and they all felt it, whether they knew Gabriella or not.

In just a matter of minutes, Gabriella had lost that innocence she was known to have and was characterized for by the hands of the one person who had grown to want to preserve that the most. Troy realized in that moment that he really had grown to care for Gabriella, even going as far as admitting to himself that he was in love with every particle that made up the woman who was now walking away from him, finding some sick humor in realizing all this when it was too late, when all the damage was done.

When he saw Chad and Jason emerge from the crowd, Troy just shook his head, wiping away the blood from his wounds. He left them and everyone else who now knew Troy's personal business behind as he walked down Greek Row, picking up some spare napkins on a table he passed to help with the bleeding, unsure of where he was going.

In fact, the only thing Troy seemed to know, was how much he really did love the one woman he managed to destroy in just one weekend, finding it sadly ironic that she was the one to reach his heart and warm it, bringing out the best in him that he had forgotten about ever since high school. 'And what a way to repay her…'


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The annoying buzzing sound from his alarm clock woke Troy up from his rough night's sleep the next Monday morning. He had tossed and turned all night, not being able to get away from the guilt he was feeling over what happened to Gabriella. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the hurt and pain in her eyes staring right back at him. He couldn't seem to get away from it. He should have known better than to make any type of deal with Nicole.

It was his fault for getting into the situation though. He spent the whole night wishing he could go back and prevent it all from ever happening. Seeing the pain in Gabriella's eyes the previous day was enough to make him wish he'd stayed away from her since the beginning. Despite the good things that had come out of whatever it was that had been going on between them, he knew he cared for her too much to let her experience the pain that had come due to his own stupidity.

At least if he wasn't a part of her life, then she would be free of all the hurt and pain he'd caused her. But yet a small part of him wondered if she would be better off without him. He'd noticed the change in her over the past few months, how she'd opened up. Seeing the peaceful look on her face the night he'd held her as she slept after the party, seeing the joy in her eyes the next day as they went out to breakfast…remembering the way her lips felt against his and the way she looked at him many times after they'd shared those kisses.

There was at least a small part of her that cared for him, and further proof for that was the hope he saw on her face when they'd had their conversation a few nights before out back and then the hurt he saw in her eyes later when he'd told her to stay away. Maybe a small part of her wanted to be with him, despite the jerk he'd become. If only he could explain and be given one more chance.

Rolling out of bed, Troy flipped a towel over his shoulder before making his way to the bathroom across the hall hoping a hot shower would wake him up and take away some of the ache he was feeling.

Ten minutes later, he found himself back in his room, pulling on a white t-shirt and a dark blue pair of jeans before slipping on his black converses, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading out his room towards class.

As he walked downstairs, Troy spotted one of his fraternity brothers with cuts and bruises all over his face. Troy stared at him, holding back from pounding his face even more. Troy wasn't the only one who'd gotten into a fight with Zeke. Late Sunday night, Troy came back to the house to find Zeke and one of their fraternity brothers in a fight in the living room after Zeke heard the other brother making numerous inappropriate comments about Gabriella.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only one. So far, Zeke had gotten into two fist fights with guys besides Troy and had been on the brink of a few more. Troy had a feeling that wasn't the end of it.

After a short walk to class, Troy pushed open the classroom door ten minutes early, hoping to see Gabriella there and be able to talk to her before class. Breathing a sigh of relief as he noticed her sitting in her usual seat without Zeke next to her, Troy slowly walked towards her, praying he wouldn't make things worse.

Pulling the seat out next to her, Troy dropped his bag on the ground and sat down, his eyes on Gabriella the whole time and a pain in his chest growing as he realized she was purposefully completely ignoring him.

Unsure of how to open up the conversation, Troy softly cleared his throat, watching as Gabriella shifted in her seat so her back was turned slightly to him as she attempted to look busy reading her textbook.

"Morning," Troy tried softly, not deterred by her efforts.

Watching her, Troy heard a sigh from her as she tried once again to look like she wasn't paying attention.

"Brie," he tried again, leaning forward in his seat as he tried to catch a glimpse of her face. "Can we talk? Please?"

Seeing that she was still ignoring him, Troy glanced towards the clock, noticing there were only a few minutes left before class as more students began to trickle in.

Taking a deep breath, Troy tried again, almost reaching his hand out to touch her forearm but pulling back at the last second. "Look, I know you probably hate me right now and it's obvious you want nothing to do with me, but please," Troy paused, watching a shift in her expression indicating she was at least listening to him, "just let me explain. You don't know the whole story and once you hear my side…" Troy stopped as Gabriella quickly shut her book before turning to look at him.

Troy's eyes connected with hers that were filled with what appeared to be anger and what Troy thought looked like a slight sadness.

"I've heard enough Troy. You can't possibly say anything that would make what you and Nicole did better," she said firmly, before flipping her book back open as she re-focused on it.

"No Brie, you haven't heard it all. If you'd just listen to me, my actions from the past few days, hell even the past few weeks that we've been around each other, it'll make more sense," Troy begged once more, ignoring the looks from a few classmates nearby who were suddenly interested in their conversation. "Please, just let me tell you."

Gabriella was quiet for a few moments, and Troy felt his hope growing, realizing that maybe she was thinking it over, only to have his hopes shattered as another voice spoke up.

"I really don't think she needs any explanation from you Bolton."

Troy spun around in his seat at the sound of the voice laced with anger to see Zeke standing behind him, two cups of coffee and a paper bag in hand.

Troy groaned in frustration as Zeke sent him a glare before walking around and pulling out the seat on the other side of Gabriella, handing her a cup of coffee and pulling a bagel out of the bag setting it in front of her, just as the professor walked in the door, effectively thwarting any further attempts by Troy to explain to Gabriella.

As the professor began his dull lecture, Troy found his eyes drifting from the lecture slides on screen to Gabriella, watching as she scribbled down the professor's words quickly, never once glancing back at him. She was beautiful, even just sitting there in a t-shirt and jeans with her hair lazily pulled up, and Troy cursed himself for ever hurting her the way he did.

Still thirty minutes into the lecture, Troy couldn't focus on the material at hand as his mind was racing with thoughts of Gabriella. Often times when he'd glance at her, his eyes would catch Zeke glaring at him, and each time, he'd feel even more guilty. He knew Zeke was just being protective of his best friend, but Troy still was frustrated by the fact that he and Zeke had been friends for a long time, and now one of his best friends hated him and wouldn't let him fix things. He'd managed to screw up two good things in his life.

The sound of screeching chairs brought Troy out of his thoughts as he glanced around to see everyone forming small groups.

"What's going on?" Troy asked, wishing he didn't as he received two simultaneous glares.

"We're supposed to work on our project for the last few minutes. We know you don't really care about anyone or anything else but yourself but it'd be nice if you paid attention and at least tried to help us finish this stupid project," Zeke told him harshly, managing to hit a sensitive spot with his words.

"Zeke, you've always been one of my best friends, but you better keep your mouth shut and not say such crap unless you know what you're talking about. I care much more than you think," Troy argued back, frustrated at Zeke's inaccurate assumptions.

"Well you sure have a damn good way of showing it Bolton," Zeke muttered sarcastically.

"Guys, just stop it," Gabriella ordered from her place in between the two. "Listen, this sucks for all of us, but we can't switch groups now. Let's just get this project over and done with, and then we won't have to talk anymore."

Both guys reluctantly agreed, each of them having their pride get in the way as they wanted to beat the other out in showing how much they cared for Gabriella. Slumping in their seats the three reluctantly began to discuss their project, Troy making little eye contact with either and paying little attention to the project at hand as he was wracking his brain for a way to get Gabriella to listen to him.

* * *

Three hours of work went surprisingly quickly for Gabriella who breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it was 6:00 and time for her to leave. Packing up her stuff, Gabriella jotted down her time and turned out the lights before locking up and making her way out of the gym.

Spotting Chad at the other end of the gym, coming out of the locker room after practice, Gabriella gave him a small wave before exiting the gym. Stopping by the café across the street, she grabbed a soda and a sandwich before heading out the door, only to bump into the one guy she didn't want to see.

"Hey," Troy greeted nervously, bringing his hand that wasn't holding his dinner up to rub the back of his neck. "Opted for the café food too huh?" he asked, attempting the small talk.

"Yeah," Gabriella answered shortly and simply before she side stepped him and walked down the sidewalk hoping he'd leave her alone.

Gabriella groaned as she continued to walk down the barely lit, deserted sidewalk, hearing Troy catch up so he was walking beside her. Finally fed up, Gabriella stopped a few steps later, turning to glare at him.

"What do you want Troy? I thought we were clear. You hurt me and used me, and now we're done. Remember that night that you asked me to stay away from you? Well I listened and stayed away, and now, I'm asking you to leave me alone, so how about you do the same for me?" Gabriella finally voiced her frustration, her eyes connecting with Troy's that were filled with shock and regret.

Troy nodded, shifting his eyes to his shuffling feet, taking a deep breath before responding. "Look, I won't say anything more to you. I get that you don't want to hear what I have to say right now. We're both headed the same way though, just let me walk back with you. It's dark out now and this isn't always the safest campus. It'd make me feel better if you'd let me go with you to make sure something didn't happen to you."

Gabriella watched as his eyes finally connected back to hers, seeing the sincerity there and hearing the honesty in his voice. However, she couldn't bite her tongue fast enough as her response spilled out. "That's hilarious! You're standing here talking about protecting me and keeping me safe. Since when do you care? All you care about is yourself and getting as many girls as you can, not caring about what happens to them. You're more dangerous to me than anyone else I could possibly meet on my way back!"

Gabriella instantly regretted her words seeing Troy shamefully look away again, his eyes revealing the sorrow and pain he was experiencing.

Troy, not having anything to say back, solemnly nodded as his eyes briefly connected with hers while he walked past her before walking ahead of Gabriella, back towards Greek Row.

Fighting the small part of her that wanted to feel sad for him, Gabriella let herself feel proud for being able to stand up for herself, not letting Troy get the best of her and hurt her anymore. She couldn't help though but to hear that small voice in her head that told her that her words had just hurt him deeply and that they were far off from the truth.

Walking back towards Greek Row, Troy a little ways ahead of her, Gabriella couldn't help but notice the way he kept subtly glancing back at her, knowing that even though she told him she didn't need his protection, he was still looking out for her. His actions were proving his words. He'd respected her wishes, yet still kept an eye on her making sure she was safe.

And even when Troy had reached his house first as Gabriella continued down the sidewalk to her house that was a little further down the street, Gabriella couldn't ignore the fact that Troy sat on the front porch, his eyes on her as he made sure she made it safely inside before going inside himself.

Stepping in and closing the front door, Gabriella suddenly didn't know what to feel. A large part of her was still furious over everything that had happened with Troy, but now she couldn't deny that it seemed some part of him truly did care for her.

Pushing aside her thoughts, she walked past the front room where a few of her sorority sisters were watching TV and into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table and pulling out her dinner.

Looking up as she heard someone else enter the kitchen, Gabriella rolled her eyes seeing probably the only person she disliked more than Troy standing there with a smug grin on her face.

"What do you want Nicole?"

Folding her arms across her chest as she leaned on the kitchen counter, Nicole rolled her eyes at Gabriella. "Well, I just got back from a meeting with the Kappa Phi Sigma Conduct Council, which I hear you also visited with today."

"So why are you telling me?" Gabriella asked, quickly getting annoyed.

"I just wanted to let you know that all your whining to the council did nothing. I heard what you told them about me hating you and that you never took that picture and it was me who photoshopped you into it. You have no proof with your little story though, and besides, they'd believe me over you any day since no one around here really likes you," Nicole sneered, earning a roll of the eyes from Gabriella, knowing there were a few sisters who couldn't stand Nicole as much as her, namely Sharpay and Taylor.

"Besides," Nicole continued, "I've done more for this sorority than you will ever do, and since all they could fault me for was making a deal with Troy to hurt you, they can't do much to me. Just a few extra community service hours and an apology, and all is forgiven."

"You've gotta be kidding me," Gabriella muttered, shaking her head in disgust at how Nicole continued to get away with things.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm completely serious. You can't get rid of me that easily Gabriella. You know, I hope all of this has shown you just how insignificant you really are. For the past few weeks, you've walked around like you actually think you mean something. All along you thought Troy could actually like some freak like you, when in reality he was playing you the whole time. Newsflash, Troy is way out of your league. It's best for you if you go find some freak more in your league, maybe some nerd down at the library, and save yourself more heartache."

Sending Gabriella an evil grin, Nicole pushed off the counter heading out of the kitchen only to pause and turn back to look at Gabriella. "Oh right, I forgot…the mandatory apology. I'm sorry Gabriella," Nicole said, putting on a fake smile.

"Yeah, because that was believable," Gabriella replied sarcastically. "You know, maybe the council is stupid enough to forgive you and believe your lies, but don't count on my forgiveness anytime soon. You can take your apology back because I could care less about you and what you think. I'm onto you and your stupid games and don't think for a second that it's not gonna come back and bite you one of these days. And personally, I can't wait for that day to come."

Picking up her sandwich and drink, Gabriella brushed past Nicole, making sure to bump into her harshly with her shoulder causing Nicole to bump into the wall as a result. "Oh, I'm sorry Nicole," Gabriella said, mimicking Nicole's earlier apology.

Smirking, Gabriella turned and walked upstairs to finish her dinner, satisfied with the way she was able to stand up to Nicole but disappointed with her sorority as a whole.

Life at Greek Row was really becoming less appealing by the minute as Gabriella realized how little she was wanted to be among the community. Instead of that fact hurting her, Gabriella surprisingly found a sense of freedom in that, a sense of relief. Aside from the few friendships she'd made and the enjoyment she got out of community service and a few other activities within the sorority, there was very little of Kappa Phi Sigma that she wanted to associate with.

Greek life was becoming less and less attractive which was completely fine with her. Her only reason for being there was for her mother's benefit, but at this point, getting out of it all seemed like a great option. She wasn't really wanted and more importantly, she didn't want to be there. Maybe this whole situation with Nicole and Troy was the push she needed to finally do what she wanted and leave once and for all.

* * *

An hour later, Troy sat in his room, finishing up his dinner as the game played on his TV in the background.

After their conversation just outside of the café, Troy had felt his heart twist in pain and it hadn't stopped. If he thought the pain from their conversation a few nights ago or the pain from the day before hurt, Troy had no idea. Hearing Gabriella's words and seeing the anger in her eyes, Troy felt his heart drop.

He knew after everything she had good reason to be pissed off at him and want nothing to do with him yet he'd hoped that the sweet girl in Gabriella would let him back in. But after her recent words to him which Troy could tell were her honest thoughts, he couldn't help but feel that all hope for reconciliation between them was gone.

She hated him. She wanted nothing to do with him.

He'd screwed up, and despite the fact that recently his intentions were good, he knew he was stupid for believing Nicole and making a deal with her. For that reason, he knew Gabriella had every right to hate him just as much. From how it looked to everyone else, including Gabriella, Troy had agreed to purposefully string Gabriella along and then throw her to the side, hurting her deeply. At this point, it didn't matter that it wasn't his intention because that is what everyone believed and that's what appeared to have happened.

But despite the fact that Gabriella asked him to leave her alone, Troy couldn't help but feel the need to keep her from getting hurt any further. This same feeling is why he'd made sure to keep an eye on her as they walked back to Greek Row that night. He couldn't bear to see her in any more pain.

After making sure she'd made it safely inside, Troy had made his way up to his room, going right past a group of his frat brothers who were watching an NBA exhibition game in the front room. He didn't feel like socializing with anyone else at the moment. He couldn't focus on anything but Gabriella anyways.

He wished he could fix things but he had no idea how to. Maybe it was best to just leave her alone, even though she didn't know the whole story. After all, it's what she wanted, and if that would cause her less pain, then he was willing to weather all of his own pain for her sake.

As Troy finished the last of his dinner, he heard lots of yelling coming from down the hall along with the sound of someone roughly hitting the wall. Swinging his legs off the bed, Troy stood up and threw his door open, running down the hall to see Zeke in yet another fight with a frat brother.

"You better shut the hell up Salas! I told you to keep your idiotic thoughts to yourself," Zeke yelled, ramming the young black haired sophomore into the wall outside his room.

Troy watched as a few frat brothers gathered around, all of them doing nothing but being spectators as they cheered when punches were landed.

"You're so touchy Baylor. There a reason for that? Maybe you and Gabriella have a little something going on, huh? I don't blame you. She's a pretty fine piece of-"

Before the sophomore could finish his statement, Zeke's fist landed on his jaw, causing him to spit out some blood as his head flew back.

Grabbing him by the collar, Zeke pushed him into the wall, his eyes darkening and his jaw tightening as he glared at Salas.

"Wanna say that again Salas?"

Seeing he had nothing to say, Zeke tugged on his shirt harder, pushing his head further into the wall. "That's what I thought. You'd better hope you keep your mouth shut next time."

Releasing his grip, Zeke shoved Salas into the wall, before Salas bounced off the wall swinging back, his fist hitting nothing but air as Zeke ducked before connecting his own left fist with Salas' jaw sending him back towards the wall.

Knowing it was his job to stop it, despite the fact that Troy wanted to see Salas pounded for saying what he did about Gabriella, Troy stepped forward, grabbing Zeke's shoulder with one hand while stepping in between the two.

"Alright, that's enough guys," Troy ordered, pushing them apart looking at Salas and sending him a stern look before pushing him back towards the wall and looking at Zeke.

"Bolton, you really think I'm going to listen to you and let you talk me into not giving this bastard what he deserves? You're lucky I'm not beating the crap out of you right now for all you've done. If it wasn't for Gabriella, you'd have more than that cut on your lip and the black eye."

"Look, I said it was enough Zeke. You may hate me but I'm still the president of this fraternity and I'm telling you right now to back off," Troy responded, nothing but seriousness in his tone as he wasn't about to let Zeke walk all over him.

"That's right Baylor. Listen to the man," the young sophomore taunted as he boldly smirked, not bothered by the blood trickling down his face. "Don't be a hater, just because he got with your girl first. Maybe he can even give you a little advice. You know, you walk around here like you're all tough, but if that's all you've got I'll just keep talking. A few little weak punches is it? Tell you what, if I was with a girl like that, I'd have a little more power in my punches. But maybe you don't know how good you have it. Maybe those pictures were the first you'd seen of that hot body. It was my first too, but now I can say, I hope it's not the last."

Unable to control his own anger at the words from his frat brother, Troy let go of Zeke and threw his fist into Salas' jaw, sending him spiraling to the ground.

Picking him back up, Troy pushed him into the wall, much like Zeke had done minutes earlier. "Listen Salas, you might think it's okay to say shit like that about girls, but I'll tell you right now, you say anything else along those lines about any girl, especially Gabriella, and I won't stop anyone, including myself, from beating you to a pulp before kicking your ass out of this fraternity. Got it?"

Salas stared back at Troy, not saying anything, but wincing as he reached up and felt more blood trickle from his cheek.

"I said, do you understand?" Troy repeated, glaring at him again.

"Yeah," Salas muttered, nodding his head slightly.

Shoving him into the wall, Troy spun around, his eyes briefly connecting with Zeke's. Troy watched as Zeke sent him a small nod, showing his approval and appreciation for what he'd done.

It may not have been much, but Troy hoped it was a small start. At this point, that was all he could ask for.

In Zeke's eyes, Troy had become the type of guy who didn't care at all for any girls' well being. Zeke had been one of his best friends. He'd been around him through everything since high school and he probably knew him better than most people.

Both Zeke and Troy knew he'd changed in the last few years since high school and Troy knew that's why Zeke had always been so hesitant when it came to him and Gabriella. He hoped that what he just did showed Zeke that things were not like they seemed. Sure, there was still a part of Troy who acted like a player, but there was a bigger part of him that actually felt something strong for Gabriella.

He knew he had a long way to go to convince Zeke and Gabriella both that he really did feel that way for Gabriella. Despite this knowledge though Troy hoped that what he just did was a small step in showing just how much he did care for the young brunette who now held an important place in his heart.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

As their United plane began backing away from the gate at LAX, Gabriella looked to her right and saw Zeke shuffling through papers in his hands. She stared at them, trying to figure it out, but couldn't make out some of the smaller print in the various tables. Giving up, Gabriella leaned back in her window seat as she stared at the scenery outside, wondering distantly why she felt like she was saying goodbye to something dear, knowing she was definitely coming back after break albeit a bit earlier than expected.

Zeke glanced over when he heard his best friend quietly sigh. "Gabs, what's up?"

Gabriella looked back over and saw the concern in Zeke's eyes, the same concern that she had seen there despite his own physical injuries and feelings involved over almost the same thing that had been weighing on Gabriella's mind. "Nothing, I'm fine. I promise, I won't be breaking any time soon. I'm not about to let Nicole or Troy get the better of me, not where it really matters."

When Gabriella returned her attention back to the window, Zeke let it go, deciding to leave it alone for now, especially as they had little under two hours of flight time ahead of them. Instead, Zeke shifted in his middle seat, apologizing quietly as he accidently nudged the person in the aisle seat, and got settled in again as he began looking at the papers he brought out from his bag before the plane left the gate.

As the plane finally started its takeoff, Zeke put the papers down on his lap, his left hand barely holding them as he leaned back in his seat, his own mind full of things that had happened in the last week that he wished he could forget. Not only had Zeke been involved in numerous verbal and physical fights, Zeke had also had his own visit to the Zeta Theta Mu Conduct Council. Before Zeke could dwell on that any further though, he felt the papers be lifted out of his hand and cracked an eye open to see Gabriella scanning them before giving him a puzzled expression.

"Why are you looking at houses and apartments for rent?" she asked, clearly confused as to why Zeke would have these papers. "What happened to living at the frat?"

"I really don't want to live at the frat house right now not to mention, well, I have no real choice but to move when we come back from Thanksgiving break," Zeke revealed, realizing then he had to tell Gabriella the truth as to the results of last night's Conduct Council meeting.

"What do you mean you have no real choice? Zeke, what happened?"

"You know the fights I've been getting into?"

Gabriella nodded, having heard about them from not only Zeke himself but Jason who had approached Gabriella on Tuesday, two days ago, asking for her to help straighten Zeke out before Zeke got into real trouble in the fraternity and made serious enemies. Since then Gabriella had talked to Zeke and made him promise her not to get into any more fights over her, that the insults were just words and that's all. One good thing that had come out of all this drama was that Gabriella realized she had a far thicker skin that she had ever thought. "You haven't gotten into more after you promised you wouldn't, have you?"

Zeke, relieved he could tell the truth here, assured Gabriella that wasn't the case. "No, I haven't been getting into anything further but it's what I did before then that has gotten me kicked out or rather suspended. I'm suspended from any Zeta Theta Mu event for the rest of the semester and I'm not allowed to live at the house as a result through finals."

Gabriella let out a dry laugh, unable to help herself, seeing the confused look now on Zeke's face. "I'm sorry but that's such bull shit that you get suspended for the fights, although I understand the point, but that Nicole who was the mastermind behind most of the pain I am suffering through gets a slap on the wrist."

"Not that I want to defend her but I think that what she was smart about was there being no evidence of anything, just her word against Troy's, even if we all know she was the one that made up that photo of you on top of coming up with that messed up plan of hers."

"Unfortunately I know you're right. I talked it all out with Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi over dinner last night and we could only come up with that reasoning. It beyond sucks but that's just further reason for what I did this week."

"What you did this week? Gabs, you didn't drop out of school after all did you?" Zeke asked alarmed, knowing that Gabriella had thought about it at one point, but hadn't thought about that again since Gabriella seemed to have become less emotional and more logical about what she was going through.

"No, just out of the sorority. You are looking at a regular, non-Greek life member of our college. I gave my drop notice on Tuesday at the weekly chapter meeting and I'm expected to move out of the Kappa Phi Sigma house when I return from break. They made an exception for me to wait until then because I had this pre-bought ticket to leave tonight instead of Friday like everyone else who has classes, but most of my things are packed and off the walls."

"So are you moving into a dorm then? In with Kelsi?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, there's no room in a single for two people although Kelsi was still kind enough to offer. I checked with Campus Life and there are no openings either, even in a quad. I was thinking of changing my ticket back to get there the day after Thanksgiving to start searching."

"Are you sad about dropping? I mean, I know it meant something to you at least because of Taylor and Sharpay plus your Mom. Being a legacy is huge in Greek life."

"It is but after I talked to my mom too, she was fully supportive of my drop. In fact, she was pretty sad for me that my experience was so horrible. Anyways, yep, that's my big update. I'm sorry though that you got into so much trouble over me and my own actions Zeke. I know you love being in the frat," Gabriella said, meaning every syllable of her apology. "I don't have any regrets for dropping but I do regret you going through so much because you're associated with me."

"Whatever," Zeke replied, rolling his eyes. "You know that wasn't the case at all. They are punishing me for my own actions because I can't stand these idiots spouting stupid crap about you. I hate to admit it but I found an ally in Troy and heard from Jason that Troy actually spoke in support of me. I'm not cool with him or anything, don't worry, but that earned some respect back in my books."

Gabriella studied Zeke and saw that expression on his face, the one that told her that Zeke was trying to please Gabriella. "Zeke, if you want to be friends with Troy, there's nothing stopping you, certainly not me. You've been best friends with him far longer than you and I have even known each other. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ruined your friendship too."

Shrugging his shoulders, Zeke looked back down at the papers in his hands before meeting her gaze again. "I appreciate that, but I have my own beef with Troy and he understands that. Jason accused me of taking your side the other night and I explained to him that it wasn't about taking sides. Troy hurt you unnecessarily and ignored my pleadings not to hurt you. There is no side to choose in that and neither of you have asked me to pick a side either. In fact, I get the impression that Troy isn't fighting with you but is trying to make peace which makes it impossible to pick a side when there isn't a feud to start."

"Yeah, he has…I mean Troy has been trying to get me to listen to him, to make amends. He tried again at class yesterday when you were a few minutes late but I didn't give him the chance. Maybe I'm being an unreasonable person about this all," Gabriella stated, wondering if maybe she was. Troy had given Gabriella the distance she needed but there were times, like class on Wednesday, when he lost the battle to keep away and tried to talk to her. As angry as Gabriella still was, a part of her couldn't stay entirely upset at him because she knew in her broken heart that it wasn't all him, a part of her that was hoping that it wasn't a complete game the entire time to him. It was that part of her that was still bleeding from a wound that Gabriella wondered daily if it would ever heal.

"You're incredible, you know that?"

"Huh?"

"As mad as you are, and you should be…you have that right to be upset, and a part of you Gabs is still in pain and aching, but yet you sit here and actually act like it's not the end of the world. Most girls I know would be crying still, even wallowing."

Gabriella gave Zeke a small smile, reaching down to her purse and pulling it up to find her chapstick to apply a thin layer on before putting the purse away again. "Oh, trust me, there is a piece of me that is doing that exactly but I, if I haven't learned anything else from watching both Samantha and Daniella, I've learned and realized that I can't let what happened to me ruin my college career that is almost over. I refuse to let Nicole, Troy, or anyone else chase me from graduating early and from graduating with honors to pursue life after college."

"Believe it or not but I think you've already come a long way from the first time I met you Gabs," Zeke commented, thinking back to the first few times they had hung out together. Gabriella was so innocently sweet and intelligent, but was quite a bit shy making it easy for her to blend in like she had up until this school year. Then, slowly, and then a bit more rapidly this year, Gabriella became more sure of herself, more willing to experiment with Sharpay's fashion advice and Taylor's makeup tips. In fact, Gabriella showed up at more social events than Kelsi and Ryan did when they were prompted to by Sharpay.

As an announcement was broadcasted through the airplane that they reached 10,000 feet and could now turn on the approved list of electronics, both Gabriella and Zeke reached down into their bags and snatched up their iPods. Before Gabriella could slip her right earbud in though, Zeke got an idea and stopped her. "Hey Gabs, can I ask you something?"

Stopping her right hand midair, Gabriella looked back at Zeke and nodded, curious as to what he was thinking. "What is it?"

Zeke waved the papers in his hand around some. "What do you say we move in together? Clearly in a friendly, platonic way, but I think it would make sense. Think about it. It'll be easier to split rent then for each of us to get two places that would be more expensive combined. If it freaks you or your parents out that you'd be living with a guy though we don't have to. Just an idea."

Before he even finished his explanation, Gabriella had a smile on her face. "Zeke, that's brilliant! We totally could get a place together. Problem is though, aren't you going to be moving back into the house at the start of next semester? We're really talking like a month max or something."

"True," Zeke conceded, thinking about it further. "I think though, if I was living with you, I'd rather stay out of the house. As much as I do love living in the house and being a brother, seeing and hearing some of what they have to say about you, knowing how much you mean to me as a friend, it makes me realize that they all aren't the same type of people that I once thought they were. I could be an active brother my last semester but not live in the house and I'd be happy."

Studying Zeke's face yielded no conflicting emotion there, leaving Gabriella to really put some serious thought into this idea of his. "Are you really sure Zeke? You're giving up a big part of your life in your last semester in college."

"I'm not dropping out Gabriella. I'm just moving out on a permanent basis. Just think it over, it's not like we can get a place or anything in the next week. If nothing else, I'll join you on your earlier flight back to find a place, even if they are separate. We can make the arrangements when we land."

"Okay," Gabriella agreed, knowing it would be nice to have Zeke's company on the way back to the LA area next week.

With that, both slipped their earbuds in and began listening to their music while Zeke studied the papers he had on possible housing options with Gabriella lost to her own thoughts, this time focusing around the implications of living somewhere with Zeke, knowing how big of a change it would be if Zeke lived with her somewhere off campus instead of him living at the frat house. 'He won't be close to his best friends or even his girlfriend. Sharpay may want to kill me too for living with her boyfriend…'

An hour and a half later when a flight attendant announced that it was time to prepare the cabin for arrival, Gabriella had an answer ready for Zeke and waited for him to wake from his quick snooze to tell him. A flight attendant came by and gently shook Zeke awake, telling him to straighten the back of his chair and to turn off his iPod, giving Gabriella the opportunity to talk to Zeke before he could retract his offer to live together. "Hey Zeke," she started, getting his attention before continuing, "so long as Sharpay doesn't skin me alive for living with her boyfriend, I'd be honored to be your roommate for the next semester and a bit more."

Zeke almost dropped his iPod as he was wrapping the earbud cord around it. "Seriously?"

Gabriella nodded. "I can't think of anything better. It makes total sense with how much we hang out and with both of us needing to find a place to live on such short notice. I even remembered Kelsi telling me about a friend of hers that she's known since freshman year. I haven't met her because she lives off campus and is only around when she has class. But anyways, she has a house that she's been thinking of renting out since she has the space and I have her number. Do you want me to call her maybe tomorrow and arrange for us to see her place if she's around Friday afternoon next week? That'll give us time to book a flight to leave Albuquerque Friday morning."

"Are you kidding? Gabs, that's perfect!" Zeke exclaimed, tossing his iPod into his bag before zipping it up and straightening to look at his college best friend. "Gabriella, this is going to be so much fun! Are you sure though? Don't feel pressured because I asked."

"No, I'm not feeling pressured at all. I'm happy actually you agreed. I'll give Kelsi's friend a call tomorrow and let you know how it goes. Am I going to see you at the coffee shop?"

"Uh, yeah! Just because you are crazy and are working as a slave to your sister does not mean that I am going to be without you during break. In fact, it'll be nice having you serve me whatever I want," Zeke teased, getting a slight push on his shoulder from Gabriella. "Hey!"

"Like that hurt, especially compared to Sharpay's shoves," Gabriella replied, sticking her tongue at him before smiling. "I'm all of a sudden even more excited for dropping from Kappa Phi Sigma."

Seeing her bright smile again on her face convinced Zeke that Gabriella really meant it making him glad that he could be a part of that happiness she felt just then, and even making him feel better about his suspension and punishment from his own Greek organization realizing in fact it was a blessing in disguise.

* * *

As the feminine groan resounded in Troy's ear, he rolled his eyes as he felt the curved fingernails of her hands rake across his scalp and up his abdominals under his shirt. Troy had used the party happening all around him in the frat house as an excuse to drink and drink a lot, but he found that none of it was enough to escape Gabriella and the way she had been haunting him, even more so now as he had a pretty brunette straddling him on the couch.

While the brunette, Troy admittedly didn't recall her name, ran her lips along his neck, Troy sat there passively, enjoying only the buzz he was feeling. In truth, he wasn't getting an ounce of enjoyment from the girl who was grinding her body over his and was surprised in some ways that she hadn't called him on it yet.

What struck Troy the most though was how much he suddenly wished that instead of the pale brown eyes the girl had, as she now looked down at him, that he was staring into the deep, chocolate eyes belonging to Gabriella. It was her lips that he wanted to feel drift over his skin, her giggle that Troy desperately wanted to hear, but knew that none of that would be a reality any time soon, especially tonight, especially if he continued down this road.

When she tried to kiss him on the lips again, Troy decided he had enough and gently grabbed a hold of her around her wrists, prying them off of his body where they were roaming freely. "I'm sorry, I can't."

"Why? Was it something I did? I know you said no kissing on the lips but I couldn't help myself…that rule actually reminds me of _Pretty Woman_ and I don't want you thinking I'm some prostitute that can live by those rules either."

"I didn't request you not to kiss me on the lips because I think of you that way, honest," Troy promised, a bit surprised by her words. "You deserve someone better, someone who will appreciate your skills right now. Really, it's nothing about you…it's me, totally."

The girl eyed him with suspicion for a few moments before she reluctantly stood up and straightened her clothing, including lowering her skirt back down. "You're an asshole, you know that Troy? Guess the sisters were right, you are a wuss now, all because of a stupid girl who isn't even a sister anymore."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Troy asked, grabbing the brunette's hand before she could walk away. "Did your sorority actually kick Gabriella out?"

The brunette shook her head. "No, she quit and left on her own free will. Kappa Phi Sigma is better off without her and you know that's the truth. Gabriella never belonged and never will, especially now."

Troy dropped her hand like it was on fire, disgusted that he had allowed such a girl touch him, even if he wasn't actively touching her in return. He watched her give him a pity look before she waltzed off to her next conquest.

Despising himself and what he had done in one single night, on top of everything he had done in the weeks before tonight, Troy groaned and dropped his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes against the guilt that was frequently associating itself with any thought he had of Gabriella.

When a weight dropped down onto the cushion next to him on the couch, Troy automatically stiffened, afraid to open his eyes as he smelled the familiar perfume. "What do you want Nicole?"

Nicole smirked, looking down at Troy's face as he kept his eyes closed. "See? That's impressive when you can tell it's me. I'm telling you, we have this undeniable connection Troy."

"What the hell do you want? Why are you still after me? You got what you wanted! Gabriella dropped! She's out of your precious organization," Troy exclaimed, the clear distaste for the company he was in evident in his voice. When he opened his eyes, he somehow wasn't surprised though to see Nicole looking at him like he was a piece of meat to feast on. "What?"

Daringly, Nicole ran her index finger down Troy's chest, ignoring the way he winced at her touch. "Sure she dropped, as she should have a while ago. What I'm after though is what belonged to me way before you ever met the brainiac."

Hearing Nicole declare Troy as belonging to her, like Troy was a purse or a pair of shoes Nicole bought and paid for, was his undoing. Troy abruptly stood up from the couch and turned to face a surprised Nicole, getting some satisfaction in knowing he had just knocked down Nicole's confidence in regards to him a little bit. "Did you really think a couple of fucks meant I belonged to you? Really Nicole? They weren't even all that good."

Nicole narrowed her eyes on him before she too stood, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't get all nasty on me because your little pet ran away. You need a real woman Troy, not some child!"

"Even more reason why I will never, ever, get in bed with you again let alone let you touch me. I was a fool that didn't know better, that thought with a head that's less than two feet above my ass, but I'm not that same guy now. Just leave me the hell alone and we both can be happy enough with the rest of the school year left."

"Troy, I don't understand though! We are so good together, like the King and Queen of Greek Row! The two presidents of sibling organizations!"

"Just because it sounds good in a status book doesn't mean that it's right in any other way Nicole and I'm here to tell you now that this isn't right. If it's a status thing, go find some other fraternity president to manipulate, bitch at, and screw. I'm done with you, one hundred percent completely. It's not like you're going to be president for much longer anyway. We're both out of the office end of the semester."

"What has gotten into you Troy Bolton? Where did the fun loving, sexy, Greek stud go? If I had known that setting you after Gabriella to hurt her would bring this side of you out, I don't know if I would have done it."

"Yeah, well, if I knew I'd end up falling for an amazing woman only to see her slip away through my foolish fingers because I was stupid enough to be in a deal with you, I wouldn't have done it either…I wouldn't have agreed with you just to get you in bed. It's not worth it, none of it was, to see Gabriella hurt this much."

Nicole shook her head, a disgusted look plastered on her face. "That's just sick, you know that? You are an utter disgrace to the entire Greek community! How quickly they fall."

"If falling in love with a wonderful woman who deserves far better than me and everything that happened to her so far in this school year means that I have fallen to disgrace on Greek Row, so be it. I'll be damned though if I let you go waltzing on your way without people seeing you for who you really are, a manipulative bitch. I'm responsible for what I did, and trust me, I'm more than sorry. Sad thing is, I don't think you are, despite your community service and your mandatory apology. You destroyed Gabriella's life and you're so twisted that you're actually happy."

"Sad thing is you being this low, this weak," Nicole returned, a sneer on her face. "Screw you Bolton. Your life here is over."

"Yeah, well we'll see about that. In the meantime, leave me the hell alone! Stay the hell out of my life and Gabriella's!"

Troy turned on his heels and stormed out of the room, ignoring all the stares he was now getting, realizing only when he was out the front door that he had declared his true, honest to God feelings about Gabriella for everyone to hear, and realizing a moment later that he didn't care. No longer was he going to be a tool for other people's wants and desires nor was he going to be ashamed about loving someone as amazing as Gabriella, a huge part of him just wishing that she would love him back, even a slightest bit.

Once he reached his room, Troy slammed the door shut, flopping on his bed. Not knowing what was driving him to do it, Troy took out his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open, hitting his speed dial for Gabriella, not surprised when he was directed to voicemail after only a few beats of her ringback tone.

"Gabriella, it's me, Troy. I know you left with Zeke to go back to Albuquerque tonight, and actually I'm going back tomorrow. Listen, I know you haven't really wanted to hear what I have had to say the past few days, and you probably don't care about that but I just…this is so not the right way to do this, but I'm just going to say it….I'm in love with you. And I know…it's probably too late, and you probably don't feel the same and this is completely horrible timing…I know, but I…I had to tell you. Look, I'm so sorry Brie, for everything. I hate that I hurt you. You might not believe me, but it's the truth. I've realized you have my heart completely, something no one has ever had in their possession before. I'm so sorry Brie…"


	20. Chapter 20

**Co-Written with cj10824**

_Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney!_

Chapter 20

"Waaaake uuuup!"

Troy rolled over, pulling his blankets up over his head as he groaned.

"Rise and shine…"

"Go away," Troy mumbled, snuggling further under the blankets.

"Yo! Get your ass up!"

Before Troy could react, his warmth was ripped from him and he was hit with a wave of cold air. Quickly sitting up in bed, Troy whipped his head to the left and came face to face with a smirking Chad.

"Good morning sunshine!"

"Chad! What the hell are you doing in my room?" Troy bit back, annoyed at Chad being so happy. "It's fucking 3:45 AM," Troy groaned as his eyes caught the clock by his bed. "Why are you up so early, before the fucking birds?"

"Are you kidding me?! Do you remember what holiday is this next week? Dude, it's Thanksgiving….homemade turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing…all the pumpkin pie I can eat...," Chad rambled on, his eyes lit up.

"Alright, alright…don't drool on my bed," Troy warned, pushing him away.

"Come on, we have a flight to get to buddy, and you need to get up," Chad told him before walking over and grabbing his basketball, spinning it on his finger.

Glancing over at his nightstand, Troy grabbed his cell phone, flipping it open and sighing in defeat as he saw no missed calls or texts. He knew it was a long shot, but part of him still held hope that Gabriella would have seen he called, heard his message, and then called or texted him back. Groaning, Troy flopped back on his bed, tossing the phone down next to him and bringing his forearm up to rest over his eyes.

"I don't really feel like going anymore man."

"What!?" Chad asked, shocked at his statement. "Dude, I'm not going to let you sit here all break and miss out on going back home, not to mention missing out on a damn good Thanksgiving lunch. Now get up!"

Not giving him any time to argue, Chad grabbed a pillow and chucked it at Troy's head.

"Ow! Alright, I'm up!" Troy yelled out, grabbing his pillow and tossing it back at Chad, hitting him right in the afro before grabbing some clothes and heading out towards the bathroom.

"Dude, you hit the 'fro! This took me forever to do this morning," Chad whined, trying to fix it.

"Really? Because it looks like you rolled out of bed. Wait, did you even go to sleep?"

"Nope and I wouldn't be talking if I were you," Chad quipped back, reaching up to rub Troy's hair and laughing at his bedhead as Troy showed him a choice finger before heading out the door.

* * *

Gabriella felt a smile make its way onto her face as she walked down the sidewalks of Albuquerque early Friday morning. Despite the fact that she was up early on her first day of break and that she'd been suckered into working the early shift at the coffee shop with Daniella, Gabriella felt a bit of freedom and contentment, being back at home, away from all the stress at school.

When she'd gotten home the previous night, she was greeted with warm hugs from her family, and after spending the evening with her family talking late into the night, she was able to go to sleep with a smile on her face for the first time in about a week. Being back at home, she was glad that she wasn't worried about running into Troy every second, and that she could finally get away from the stares of everyone around her.

However, she knew that it was quite possible that she'd see Troy at least once on her trip back home, that is if he ended up coming home for the holidays. Part of her was hoping he'd have to stay for basketball practices, although she knew that was unlikely since Zeke came back home for the break and practice wasn't mandatory until the first Monday back. Zeke had opted out of practice last night to catch a cheaper flight but also to get away quicker from campus considering everything his last week entailed too. In all honesty, Gabriella just didn't really want to see Troy, not yet. She had seen that morning that he'd called late the night before, but she ignored the missed call, not really wanting to talk to him nor hear his voice on his evident voicemail.

Over the past week, he'd tried so many times to get her attention and for the most part, she remained strong. But then again, there were those rare times, like the night Troy walked her back to Greek Row, that she saw a real honesty and sincerity to him that made her wonder if maybe she should give him a chance to explain.

Gabriella sighed as she neared the coffee shop. 'Here I am finally feeling good about being free of the stress, and I'm bringing it back on myself thinking about a guy who's nowhere around.'

Gabriella pushed open the door and smiled as she spotted Daniella behind the counter.

"Morning Gabi, you look wide awake," Daniella told her sarcastically, walking towards her to greet her with a hug.

"You better be grateful, you know? I wouldn't get up this early on a break, especially the first day of vacation, for many people," Gabriella teased, pulling away from the hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…I owe you…I know," Daniella grinned, putting her arm around her little sister's shoulders. "Now come on, we have coffee to serve, and you have a lot to tell me. I need to be caught up on your ever-wonderful college girl's life."

"I wouldn't go right to wonderful," Gabriella said, trying to laugh it off, but the reality of the worlds making her heart twist as her thoughts were filled with the past few weeks.

Daniella nodded sympathetically, recalling their conversation from a few days before. "Things haven't been getting better? You two haven't made up? A few weeks ago, it seemed like something exciting was going on in your life involving this same guy I think," Daniella stated, nudging Gabriella with her elbow as she tied her apron around her waist.

Gabriella took a deep breath before averting her eyes in the opposite direction, realizing she'd yet to tell Daniella about Troy and Nicole's plan and what had happened between her and Troy as a result, "Yeah, well that was a few weeks ago and more things have happened, a lot more, since you and I talked."

Not being able to make eye contact with her sister, Gabriella quickly walked up to the cash register, smiling at the customer in line, "Hi, how can I help you?"

Hearing someone clear their throat, Gabriella glanced to her left to see Daniella looking at her, eyebrows raised, "We'll be talking about this later."

Nodding, Gabriella turned her attention back to the customers in line, doing her job, but her mind was suddenly back to being centered on the blue eyed guy she was trying to escape from.

* * *

After arriving at his parents' house around 11:00 in the morning, using his keys to get in since everyone was out at work or something, Troy had trudged up the stairs, opting to crawl back in bed and fall asleep for however long his body wanted to rest. From the moment the plane had landed, Troy had his phone in hand, quickly checking again to see if he'd received any texts or calls from Gabriella, earning a few sarcastic comments from Chad which Troy ignored.

When he woke up from his nap, a few hours later, the first thing Troy did was flip open his cell phone. 'She would have seen it by now, right?' Troy thought as he glanced at his phone, feeling his hopes fall as he saw he didn't receive any response from her yet. Troy was beginning to realize that maybe his desire for her to call him back wouldn't ever happen…that she didn't want to talk to him at all, and maybe it was time to just let her be.

Getting up out of bed, Troy quickly changed into some shorts and a t-shirt, deciding to go for a run and clear his head a bit.

On his run by the familiar park he grew up playing at, Troy spotted what appeared to be a few familiar faces out on the court. Drawing closer, his suspicions were confirmed as he recognized Chad, Zeke, and Jason all there playing a game.

Slowing to a walk and shoving his hands in his pockets, Troy made his way towards them, lifting his chin up in greeting as Chad and Jason saw him. "Hey Troy."

"What's up guys? Got a game going?"

"Just 21," Chad answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "You want in?"

Glancing up at Zeke who suddenly looked really uncomfortable, Troy sighed, shaking his head. "Nah, it's cool man. I was just seeing what was going on."

"Really Troy, don't take off. Two-on-two is better than 21 anyways," Chad protested, trying to convince him. "Look, we would have called you earlier, but we thought..you know…"

Immediately Troy understood what he meant and shook his head. "Nah man, it's cool. I get it…really," Troy added, not needing to mention what everyone knew was the issue involving Zeke and Troy. "Anyways, you guys should get back to your game. Sorry to interrupt."

"You sure?" Chad asked, spinning the ball on his finger and glancing at Jason and Zeke both.

Nodding, Troy exchanged a fist pound with Jason and Chad before turning to go back on his run.

"Wait Troy, hold up man," Zeke surprisingly called out, causing Troy to pause and turn back around.

"Yeah?"

"Look, 21's getting boring and a little two-on-two would be good for all of us before starting up the season practices next week right?"

Troy looked up and let a small smile begin at the corner of his mouth, nodding at Zeke. "Thanks," Troy told him softly, not needing to say anymore. "So what are the teams?"

"Jason and Troy against me and you?" Chad suggested, pointing to Zeke.

"Let's do it," Troy said, exchanging a fist pound with Jason as they walked to the top of the key.

"Just like old times," Jason added as the four got ready to play.

"Alright, first one to ten," Chad said after making the three to get the ball first.

"Sounds good," Troy said, getting into a defensive stance as Chad checked him the ball and the game began.

Even if things were still all messed up in Troy's life, he felt like any improvement at this point, no matter how small, he'd gladly take. And the chance to just play ball with his best friends, including Zeke, was one of those situations he wasn't about to pass up.

* * *

Wiping off one of the tables in the corner of the coffee shop, Gabriella stopped to wave goodbye to an elderly couple who used to live next door. Aside from the few stares she'd received from Daniella, her day was going fairly well. She had been successful at busying herself to the extent that Troy was no longer completely at the forefront of her mind, but she knew that'd change once Daniella found a good time to bring up the question of what was wrong.

Finishing up at the tables, Gabriella walked back behind the counter to see Daniella leaning there, watching Gabriella as she waited for her to stop and talk to her.

"It's almost 5:30 Gabi. Most of the day has passed and it's about time for you to tell me what has happened with you the past few days since we talked. A few weeks ago, you were almost giddy…telling me how life was going good for you and how you'd been around some guy a lot. Then the other night you called all upset about the same guy and how he'd told you to leave him alone, but after our conversation, you sounded okay. What happened? Are you still down about that or is it something new?"

Taking a deep breath, Gabriella tossed the washcloth in the sink before washing her hands and leaning against the opposite counter. "Lots of things happened Daniella. It's a long story."

"We have time," Daniella pointed out, glancing at the clock. Normally Gabriella would be off by this time, but since someone had called in sick, she volunteered to take the late shift as well.

"Okay, well the guy you're referring to…Troy..."

"That's his name!" Daniella smiled, the light bulb finally switching on.

"Yeah," Gabriella sighed, sounding much, much less excited. "Anyways like I told you, the two of us had been getting close over the past couple of months."

"Close?" Daniella asked curiously, wanting clarification.

"Not close like that," Gabriella responded quickly, not wanting to give her the wrong idea.

"So no dating?"

"Not really…it was pretty complicated. Like I told you I was hoping for more, but…" Gabriella trailed off with a sigh, looking away from her sister and busying herself with wiping off the counter. She didn't really feel like talking about it at the moment.

Daniella smiled sympathetically, walking up and placing her arm around Gabriella's shoulders, pulling her closer. "It's alright, I can see this isn't your favorite subject right now. We can talk later."

"Thanks," Gabriella gave her a small smile, breathing a sigh of relief. Hearing the door open, Gabriella spun around and a smile made a way onto her face as she saw Taylor and Sharpay walk in.

"Gabi!" Taylor called out, shocked to see her friend still there. "I thought you were only working till 1:00 today," Taylor mentioned, walking up to Gabriella to greet her with a hug.

"I was, but then the girl on the late shift called in sick, so I told Daniella I'd stay as long as she needed me."

"First day on vacation and you're already working like a slave? Seriously Gabs, do you ever take a break?" Sharpay asked, giving her a hug as well.

"It's no big deal," Gabriella shrugged, pulling away. "I get to spend time with Daniella which is nice, and I don't have to sit at home dwelling on things."

Both of the girls nodded sympathetically, immediately picking up on what she was referring to.

"So what time do you think you'll be working till?" Taylor asked, changing the subject.

"Probably until 8:00," Gabriella answered, looking back at Daniella, who nodded for confirmation. "Anyways, I have to get back to work," Gabriella told them as a few customers walked in and got in line, "but hop in line and let me know what you want."

As Gabriella walked back behind the counter, Taylor pulled out her phone, quickly sending a text.

"What are you doing?" Sharpay asked as the two grabbed a seat.

"Sending Chad a text," she responded still typing. "He texted me a few minutes ago saying Troy was with him since they were hanging out at his place and he'd invited him to come with him to grab some coffee. Even though I'm not Troy's biggest fan right now, I figured it wouldn't be that big of a deal since Gabi wasn't supposed to be here. But now, it'd be better if he didn't come…we both saw the look on her face when she mentioned staying at home."

"Yeah, it's best to keep her mind off of Troy," Sharpay agreed before standing up. "Well, I'm going to go get some coffee and maybe we can persuade Gabs to come sit and hang out for a bit. Want anything?"

"I'll come with you," Taylor told her, the two standing up and making their way to the line, glad that the possible crisis was averted, at least to their knowledge.

* * *

Troy rolled down the window in Chad's parents' car, enjoying the nice fall breeze, glad that he had been able to clear his mind at least for a little bit.

"I'm glad you stuck around to play," Chad said, getting his attention as he turned down the radio. "Sorry I didn't call you to come play earlier."

"It's nothing man," Troy waved him off. "I get that things have been weird the past few weeks since I screwed up and Zeke wants to pound my face in almost any chance he gets. But that's between me and him. You and J should be able to hang out with him, without having to feel guilty. I mean, we're all best friends so that shouldn't be ruined because of me."

"It'll get better," Chad commented optimistically as Troy nodded, hoping it was true. "I think Zeke's coming around a bit anyways."

"Well as long as he thinks I completely ignored his warnings and strung Gabriella along just to hurt her, things won't be back to normal."

"Hey, I hope you don't mind me asking..."

"Go ahead."

Chad nodded, glancing over at Troy before looking back at the road. "What exactly happened there? I heard you at the party last night talking to Nicole…you really made a deal with her to go after Gabriella just to sleep with Nicole?"

Troy took a deep breath, bringing his hand up to pinch his forehead, shaking his head as his own stupidity was once again brought to the forefront of his mind. "Before I knew her…yes."

"Dude, I can't believe you'd do that."

"It's not one of my proudest moments. To be honest, I can't believe it either. At the time, I just was being a stupid guy and wanted to get with Nicole, so I almost would have done anything she wanted."

Glancing over at Chad, Troy saw the disappointment there, suddenly feeling even worse about himself. "But the second I started to get to know Brie, I began to feel completely horrible about it. I wanted out. I didn't want to continue with the deal, and I thought it was done. Then Nicole came up with the stupid idea to do that calendar but in no way did I have any part with that picture of Brie. I told Nicole that the calendar had to be done with people willing to have their pictures in it and we both know Brie didn't agree to that at all."

"So why then, a few days before the calendar thing, did you and Gabriella stop talking? You were both pretty down those few days."

"Nicole used me and I had little choice in the matter," Troy confessed, feeling more down as that conversation with Gabriella that one night in the backyard of her sorority house came back into his mind and the hopeless look on her face suddenly was the only thing he could see.

"How'd she use you?"

"She threatened me with the whole calendar thing. Either I hurt Gabriella on my own, or she would with the calendar and tell everyone our deal. So, even though it killed me to do it, I chose to hurt Gabriella by me doing it my way in the hopes she'd be protected from all this shit. Didn't work out too well though, did it? And to think, I almost explained everything and told her how I really felt that night," Troy added as an afterthought. "But then I saw Nicole watching, and I knew I had to do what I did, to try to save Gabriella from this humiliation and getting hurt worse, at least that's the way I saw it then."

"Damn man, that's rough," Chad agreed, finally understanding where his best friend had been coming from.

"Yeah, and then Nicole goes and does it all anyways. Gabriella ends up brokenhearted because of Nicole and worse, because of me."

"Hey, well give it time," Chad encouraged, hating to see his best friend so down, realizing he hadn't seen him this down since high school if even then. "Eventually she'll open up and listen to you."

"I hope so," Troy said, knowing it was one of the only things he wanted at this point.

Chad's phone began to beep, indicating he had a text, bringing the two out of their conversation. "Hey, check that for me, would you?"

"Sure," Troy said before flipping open Chad's phone that was lying in the center console.

"Who's it from?"

"Taylor."

"What's it say?"

Opening the text, Troy felt his heart speed up, reading the text there, and suddenly feeling a bit of hope for the first time that day.

"She says that Gabriella is working still at the coffee shop and that we should all meet up somewhere else."

"Damn. Alright, text her back and ask where she wants to meet."

"Nah man, let's just go."

"Troy didn't you hear? They don't want us there because Gabriella is there still."

"Exactly," Troy said, unable to hide the grin that came on his face. "And I want to see her."

"Dude, don't fucking push it. If they say no, then maybe we should just listen," Chad disagreed, slowing down a bit and beginning to pull to the curb.

"Chad, just keep driving. I want to go and I don't care what the girls say."

"Fine man," Chad sighed, pulling back onto the street. "It's your funeral. I'll be saying 'I told you so' when Sharpay pounds your face in once you walk through the door."

* * *

Gabriella let out a sigh of relief as she sat down next to Taylor and Sharpay, finally glad to have a bit of a break after the last rush of people.

"I swear they were the pickiest people ever when it comes to how they want their coffee," Gabriella complained, taking a sip of her own drink.

"Worse than Shar?" Taylor questioned.

"I didn't think it was possible, but yes," Gabriella laughed, earning a glare from Sharpay. "What? It's true!" Gabriella shrugged, still laughing.

"I'll be sure to remember you on your birthday," Sharpay quipped back with a smirk.

"Hey Gabi, can you go to that table over there in the corner and take their order?" Daniella asked, setting a tray and a notepad on the counter next to Gabriella.

Agreeing, Gabriella stood up and grabbed the tray, happy to help out her sister. Spinning around, Gabriella felt her heart stop and her jaw drop, uncertain of what all to really feel, as she saw Troy standing in the door of the coffee shop, his blue eyes staring into her brown ones, Gabriella not even noticing that Chad was standing right behind him.

The sound of the tray clattering to the ground snapped the two out of their stares and deep thoughts, while also gaining the attention of all of those in the coffee shop, including Daniella who darted straight over to her sister.

"What happened Gabi?" Daniella asked, before looking up at Gabriella, following her eyes to Troy, right away guessing what the issue was as she put two and two together seeing the looks in both Troy's and Gabriella's eyes.

"You alright Gabs?" Another voice asked, coming up next to them.

Gabriella heard nothing though, because her eyes were still caught by Troy's as the two were oblivious to everything going on around them, thoughts racing a mile a minute—one's thoughts filled with dread and the other's with hope.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

_As they continued to hold each other's gaze, Gabriella failed to realize that Troy had begun walking towards her, squatting down to first pick up the dropped tray and then the notepad Gabriella had also dropped before he straightened and held them out to her. "You okay Brie?"_

_Gabriella swallowed, all of a sudden not sure what to feel or think as she took the tray and notepad, seeing nothing but his hopeful light blue eyes and that dazzling smile on his lips. "I'm fine. What are you doing here Troy?"_

_Feeling confident enough after Gabriella didn't immediately move away, Troy extended his right hand and cupped Gabriella's left cheek, feeling her soft skin under his calloused fingers. "You sure you are okay?"_

_Seeing the concern in his cerulean eyes served to only drag Gabriella in deeper until she was abruptly brought back to the surface as she heard her sister's voice saying her name a few times. When Gabriella turned her head to look at Daniella who was right next to her still, looking at her with worry on her face, all the memories and heartache came rushing back, grateful then that Troy had already dropped his hand from her cheek to hang by his side._

_By the time Gabriella met his eyes again, Troy saw that all the vulnerability was gone from her brown orbs to be replaced with indefinite sadness surrounded by the hardness of resolution. "I've got to go…"_

_With that, Troy let Gabriella go, his eyes lingering on Gabriella as he watched her shakily take the order of the people her sister had earlier pointed out before turning his attention on the older brunette who was looking at him without a glare as he expected, but not exactly a friendly look either. Troy swallowed, looking away to watch Gabriella move around the coffee shop with expert knowledge, seeing that she was clearly familiar with the set up of the place and recalled vaguely some stories Gabriella had told him about working at this place and with her sister. _

_No matter where she moved, Troy couldn't help but watch her, ignoring everything else around him and the fact that it was a bit stalker like._

_Troy was so entranced in just observing Gabriella, seeing her smile when he hadn't seen that vision in days, that he was startled when he felt a hand clap his left shoulder, turning quickly to see Chad looking back at him without a smile. "Dude, don't do that!"_

_"Sorry man but I've gotta get you out of here. While you've been daydreaming of better days with Gabriella, Sharpay and Taylor both have been ripping me a new one. Please, for my safety from my girlfriend and her friend, let's get out of here," Chad pleaded, really anxious to leave before Sharpay came after them with a knife, easily seeing how pissed both girls were with him for bringing Troy here._

_The desperation in Chad's voice mixed with the glares he felt before he actually saw them from Taylor and Sharpay convinced Troy that it was the right thing to do. "All right man, let's go."_

_Relieved, Chad led Troy out of the coffee house, not daring to get close enough to kiss his girlfriend goodbye and breathed in deeply once the door shut behind them. "Hoops, I so told you that this was a horrible idea. Nothing good came out of that!"_

_Troy disagreed though, a smile forming on his face which threw Chad for a loop. "On the contrary Chad. Something big happened and it was definitely good," Troy said, not phased at all when Chad looked at him in disbelief. "I have hope again."_

* * *

Daniella had just finished cleaning a recently vacated table near the windows when she spotted the now familiar guy with chestnut hair and hopeful blue eyes walking down the sidewalk before he opened the door to the coffee shop, setting off the bell and making his way towards a seat at his now usual table.

Ever since last Friday, Daniella had noticed Troy coming in every day for the past three days, making today's visit his fourth on his own. With most of Daniella's regular employees home for the holiday break, away from Albuquerque, Gabriella had given up a part of her day, every day, until she planned to leave to help the coffee shop keep running. As a result, Gabriella had waited on Troy every day as he ordered a protein shake in the early morning while he read the paper and then his mocha and a brownie in the late morning when he returned again, staying until Gabriella ended her shift but leaving before Gabriella herself left.

Daniella had to hand it to the guy for his persistence even while her own baby sister served him in cold silence, barely speaking to him. Today though, today Daniella decided she was stepping in. It was Tuesday which meant Gabriella had only two full days at home before she went back to college and Daniella wanted to help her sister get closure and move on, whether that was with Troy after forgiving him or deciding for good to leave him in the past. Daniella just wanted Gabriella to heal and this limbo state was doing nothing for her, that much Daniella did know from firsthand experience.

"Gabriella, your favorite customer is here," Daniella sang, putting a smile on her face. "Why don't you deliver his protein shake to him on the house this morning?"

Gabriella gave her sister a disbelieving look. "Seriously? What is wrong with you Daniella? Did you slip and hit your head on the tub?"

"Well, no, but he has been coming in every day. In fact, he's become a regular pretty fast and I don't think it's for the shake, mocha, or brownie."

"So now you're cheering me on to get it on with a guy who used me to get in bed with another girl, who played with me like a cat with a mouse, and who made me fall in love with him?"

Daniella was about to respond but stopped as she realized what Gabriella had just said in that last breath. "You're in love with him?"

Unable to look at her sister, Gabriella looked out the window, blinking back tears until they cleared and then went about making Troy's protein shake. Once the blender was going, Gabriella bravely looked at Daniella who had moved closer to hear Gabriella above the noise. "It's pathetic, right? I finally find a guy who isn't perfect but is my perfect match and then I find out he was just acting to set me up to feel like this, like some heartbroken wimp. God help me, but I'm still feeling this way even after everything, as much as I want to hate him. I so want to stay angry at him Daniella, stay mad…but I can't anymore…not really."

As Daniella watched Gabriella's eyes fill with tears again, she stepped closer to her sister, reaching over to turn off the blender before making sure she was blocking Gabriella from everyone else's view. "Sweetie, you can't help who you fall in love with. Do you remember all the idiots who I've fallen for? Each and every one of them I thought was perfect for me but in the end, they weren't. It hurts like hell right now but you'll make it, just as I have, just as Samantha has. Look at her even. Proof it does eventually all work out. Question is though if you want to move on and heal this pain by forgetting he exists, the easier way to go, or if you fight to give yourself a chance at being in love."

"But how can I when I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way? After everything he's done?"

"That last question is something you and only you can answer since you are the one who has to forgive what's happened," Daniella replied, rubbing her sister's left upper arm as Gabriella wiped away a few stray tears. "But, in answer to your first question Gabi, I'm pretty sure that Troy feels the exact same way about you."

Gabriella took in a steady breath to calm herself before letting it out, satisfied that she was back in control of her feelings. "And I'm pretty sure he doesn't. How could he lie to me, play me, and better yet hurt me if he was in love with me?"

"Guys can be dense and realize things too late." Daniella pushed some of Gabriella's dark locks back to rest behind Gabriella's right ear. "Look, you don't have to talk to him, you don't have to forgive him, and you can totally just walk away from him. Either way, I will support you. Just hear me out on this though. Troy would not be coming here, every single day, twice in a day, on his own, to see you, to hear your few words you speak to him, if he didn't love you or at the very least care a lot about you."

Unable to ignore Daniella's words, Gabriella let them settle in her mind. She thought back to the past few days, the nervous hope in Troy's blue eyes, his constant presence, and the way he always made sure to smile at her even when Gabriella glared at him. Then Gabriella recalled all the times she began to feel herself fall for him, from their kiss in the rain, the talk about his dad, and each time Troy went out of his way to care for her, to make sure she was safe when he could easily have just let Gabriella face the unknown alone.

Seeing Gabriella in deep thought, Daniella poured the shake into a glass and put a straw in it before handing it to her sister. "Go on and decide your fate Gabriella."

Gabriella stared at the drink in her hands. "What about all of the heartache and trouble you and Sam went through?"

"That's what happened to us, not you, and that's not necessarily your fate unless you make it be. You'll never know if you continue to stand there holding that drink though. If it's one thing I've learned from all my broken hearts, it is to learn from them, heal, and move on…whichever way 'move on' takes you. Now go, I'll cover if you decide to chat."

After taking a step forward, Gabriella paused to look back at Daniella. "You're amazing, you know that? Thank you."

Daniella gave her an encouraging smile in return. "It's in our genes, that amazingness, cause you have it too."

Gabriella laughed at her sister's made up word before walking again, her stomach knotting even tighter together with each and every step she took, feeling the smile on her face slip away the closer she got to Troy's table. "Here's your regular Troy. My sister said it was on the house since you've been here so much in the past few days."

Troy looked up from the newspaper in his hands as he heard her voice, the voice he had been dreaming of for the last few nights. He took the shake from Gabriella's hand, purposely brushing her fingers with his as he gripped the glass and set it on the table. Just as he had done every other day before, Troy made sure to put on a smile as he gazed back at Gabriella. "Tell Daniella I said thank you. You know, you Montez ladies sure know how to make a guy feel special, even if he's too into his own world to realize it for what it is when he should."

He waited for a few moments, giving Gabriella the window in which he usually saw her scurry off to avoid having to be in his presence for long, surprised when she didn't move from her spot this time. Clearing his throat, Troy asked, "Do you want to have a seat?"

Resisting the urge to run, Gabriella called upon the inner strength she had harnessed in the last few days and even weeks to help settle her as Gabriella slid into the offered chair. "Thanks."

Having Gabriella sitting across the table from him made Troy's heart race while his hopes rose higher than they had dared to go just minutes ago. "How are you?" Troy asked excitedly, cursing himself as he heard the question, knowing it probably wasn't the best idea. "Stupid question, sorry," he mumbled, glancing up from the table where his eyes had shifted to look at her. "Did my voicemail make you more upset instead of less?"

"Voicemail? I haven't," Gabriella started, stopping as she recalled the new voicemail that was waiting for her to listen to. "To be honest, I haven't listened to it."

"Couldn't bear to hear my voice huh? Guess I can't blame you."

"Troy…"

Troy shook his head, silencing her. "There's really nothing you have to say here Gabriella. I understand, at least I'm trying to understand, how you must feel after everything. Saying I'm a jerk doesn't begin to cover what I am for letting what happened happen to you."

Gabriella studied Troy, seeing the way he twisted his hands together before raising his left up to rub the back of his neck, recognizing the sincerity in his eyes as well as his body language which conveyed exactly how unsure he was about this conversation, seeing no sign of the confident Troy Gabriella knew him to be. "Why did you have to do it Troy?"

"Ah…the ultimate question," Troy replied, sighing a little as he clasped his hands together firmly to make sure he didn't do anything further with them, knowing he had to channel his nervous energy into telling Gabriella everything while he had the chance. "I could be a total wuss and tell you that it wasn't all my fault, but I'd be lying because I feel and know that it was my fault. From the very start of it, even before I knew you, I should never have agreed to Nicole's suggestion but I was weak and wasn't thinking clearly. In fact, I wasn't thinking at all but with, well, my male member."

"Was it worth it?"

"Yes."

"Yes?" Gabriella asked, standing up on her feet as her voice got a little louder. "How can you sit there and tell me it was worth it?"

Troy stood up too, realizing that his single word was being totally interpreted the wrong way. "No, Brie, please," Troy pleaded, cursing himself again. "That came out wrong, please don't leave," Troy begged once more, hoping his eyes conveyed his sincerity.

Troy took a deep breath as he saw her hesitantly sit back down, grateful for yet another chance. "What I meant is that it was worth it because I became a better person…because I got to know you and you brought him out of me. Was it worth it considering how much I made you hurt? No. But was it worth it because it brought you into my life? That answer will always be yes," he told her, never once dropping his gaze from hers. "I just wish I didn't hurt you in the whole process. Nothing would ever be worth doing to see the pain I've seen in your eyes, to see the way you don't trust me, or the way I feel knowing I don't have you in my life anymore."

"All nice words Troy, but it's all a bit too little too late don't you think? Why didn't you tell me as soon as you supposedly started caring genuinely for me?"

"Because I was cornered, because I didn't know what else to do. Yeah, I get how this all looks and how some big tough guy like me is supposed to be able to handle a girl like Nicole but it's not that clean cut. Once I made this deal with her to help her get you out of the sorority, to break your heart to chase you away from Greek Row, in exchange for her body, I didn't think much of it. In fact, I had no real intentions of doing it. Then, when I met you for the first real time in your bedroom the next morning, the agreement became more interesting to me because I wanted to get to know you better."

"So this deal? This deal happened the night before you accidentally stumbled into my room at the start of the year?"

Nodding his head, Troy unclasped his hands to grab the glass and take a sip of the protein shake. "It happened the night of the party at your sorority house at the start of the year. Thing is, I never expected to be put into a group project with you nor that I would develop actual feelings for you. I've never told anyone outside of the guys about my problems with the pressures at home, and I never really told them much about my high school heartache. I wasn't lying when I told you that stuff, whether you believe me or not. All that, all that is true, which is kind of also another reason why I kept coming in here. I wanted to see you, but honestly I come in here to also get out of the house, away from my father and his crap," he finished truthfully, looking at her and seeing the concern there in her eyes.

"Things that bad at home?"

"It's the start of basketball season and my dad is pressing me about why I haven't agreed to meet with any scouts. He doesn't understand that maybe I just want to do something else with my life than the NBA. Sad thing is, I would take years of his pestering me if it meant I could have just one more day with you, the way things were."

Gabriella held herself back from breaking, hearing the earnest emotions there but also not willing to risk getting hurt, getting set up in his trap again. Already, Gabriella felt like she had been hit over the head with a sledgehammer. She didn't know how much more she could really take. "Things can never be the way they were though Troy."

Knowing this already, Troy wasn't all that taken aback. "I realize that but what I'm wondering is if we can move forward, if you have any interest in us, what could be, knowing nothing will be the same. Is it crazy for me to hope that you could possibly want it too?"

"If this was some fairytale romance I'd be in your arms right now, all the trouble between us gone magically, but this isn't a fairytale. You're right, I don't trust you, and I'm heartbroken still despite how much I'm trying to move on. How do I even know what you are saying to me now is the truth?"

"Unfortunately I don't think I can say anything to you that will convince you that it is. It's up to you and your heart Gabriella to decide what really is the truth here. For me, I will be doing a lifetime of penance for putting you through so much pain. Not only did I lose an amazing friend in you but I lost the first woman I've ever wanted to ask to be my girlfriend. To tell you the truth, I was going to ask you that night in the backyard of the sorority house but stopped as soon as I saw Nicole watching from upstairs. That was the night she gave me a choice and I made one, apparently the wrong one."

"A choice?" Gabriella asked, intrigued with how she really couldn't make herself to look away from him now. "What choice?"

Breathing in deeply and then letting the air go, Troy diverted his eyes so he was looking out the window instead of into her brown orbs as he pondered what exactly to say. When he had an idea, he returned his gaze back onto her face, aching even more as he thought of how she looked that night before he left. "Nicole decided that the joint philanthropy event this year would be calendars but not just any calendars. Two versions, one with the brothers in boxers and one with the sisters in bikinis or less. The pictures I saw though were not pictures that were posed for and I told her that it would be trouble, that we couldn't publish pictures without people's consent. She of course argued and said I was just spoiling her fun. In that stack I saw a picture or two of you and knew that I couldn't be a part of it, everything else put aside. So I pulled out."

"What does that have to do with you pushing me away? And telling me you never want to see me again?"

Troy thought back to the numerous debates he had in his head and the actual arguments he had with Nicole. "A lot actually. Breaking away from the calendar project was easy compared to trying to pull away from having to hurt you. Nicole, in the end, caught on that I had softened an incredible amount when it came to you and used it against me. Either I carry out the plan and be the one to hurt you without anyone being the wiser, which I at the time thought was the best option, or I pull out and let Nicole broadcast to everyone in the school about the plan and also publish those pics of you. Thing is, that doctored photo she had, wasn't part of any of the ones she showed me. The ones I saw of you in that stack were of you lounging with Sharpay and Taylor out in the backyard of the house and another from the toga party. She must have done the fake photo afterwards just to spite both of us."

Not once did Gabriella catch Troy falter in his steady gaze that held hers during the last few minutes as she listened to him explain. Her gut told her that Troy really had no knowledge of the fake nude picture of her, not that she really ever thought he did, but was relieved that he seemed to also be coming completely clean with her, in every way possible.

"If it counts for anything, I'm glad you chose the way that you did. I know Nicole…and I know that although you are taking full responsibility and blame here even though it wasn't all you, or even mostly you. She's had it out for me since I became a full sister and she realized I couldn't be manipulated nor that I was one of the cool girls. I can't blame you for her actions. That's on her and only her. I do wish though Troy that you had just told me yourself about the plan that night in the backyard instead of a front."

"The thought crossed my mind many times but I was scared…I admit it. I was scared to see that pain in your eyes, that look of disappointment. But mostly I was afraid of what would happen if Nicole found out that I did tell you. I realize now that I should have thrown it all to the wind and told you but hindsight is always 20/20 right? Sucky as that is, it's true."

Gabriella sadly nodded her head. "That much I can agree with you on. There are things that if I had known at the time would turn out badly that I wouldn't do again."

Her words froze Troy, his mind already thinking about the worst, how Gabriella now wished she had never met Troy let alone talked to him and let him into her life. Sadly, Troy couldn't blame her. Feeling a bit sick though at the thought, Troy pulled out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and put it on the table before standing up.

Troy sighed, willing himself to say what he knew he needed to now after hearing her words. "I'm sorry I'm one of those things…one of those things you could do without. I unfortunately don't have a time machine to make that happen for you though, so all I can do is offer my sincerest apologies and let you move on without having to deal with me, which should be easy considering you aren't a Kappa Phi Sigma sister now. Once the group project is over I give you my word you won't have to deal with me again. Take care Gabriella," he finished softly, with deep sincerity and love in his voice.

Shocked at the quick turn of events, Gabriella just sat there as Troy gave her one last look before heading out of the coffee shop, never looking back.

It took Gabriella a few moments to snap out of the trance, realizing then that Troy assumed that she was talking about him when she was actually thinking about completely other things. Of course, the fact that Gabriella hadn't been thinking about Troy as one of those things Gabriella would like to erase from her history highlighted something in the brunette's mind. No matter what happened in the past, Gabriella still cared about Troy and didn't want to lose those good memories they had shared thus far.

Remembering the voicemail Troy had assumed she heard at the start of their conversation, Gabriella glanced around the coffee shop and saw she had a few more moments to have to herself before she had to go back. Feeling it now burning a hole in her pocket, Gabriella drew out her cell phone from the pocket of her jeans and unlocked it to go to her messages. She dismissed a text message she saw from Zeke and then another from Taylor to settle on her unheard voice messages, one that had been sitting in her inbox since last Thursday night.

Unsure of what it contained but knowing she needed to know now, Gabriella dialed her voicemail, and listened, holding her breath.

"_Gabriella, it's me, Troy. I know you left with Zeke to go back to Albuquerque tonight, and actually I'm going back tomorrow. Listen, I know you haven't really wanted to hear what I have had to say the past few days, and you probably don't care about that but I just…this is so not the right way to do this, but I'm just going to say it….I'm in love with you. And I know…it's probably too late, and you probably don't feel the same and this is completely horrible timing…I know, but I…I had to tell you. Look, I'm so sorry Brie, for everything. I hate that I hurt you. You might not believe me, but it's the truth. I've realized you have my heart completely, something no one has ever had in their possession before. I'm so sorry Brie…"_

As Gabriella's vision blurred, she hit the key to hear the message again, and again, and again until she had Troy's voice repeating those key words in her head. 'I'm in love with you…you have my heart completely…I'm so sorry Brie…'

When Daniella glanced over at the table she had last seen Gabriella and Troy talking at and saw instead her sister sitting there by herself, with her face in her hands, Daniella became alarmed, knowing then that something definitely did happen from their talk. After dropping off the last drinks that were ordered, Daniella made it over to the table and dragged the chair Troy had been sitting on over to the side where Gabriella was, sitting down and wrapping her baby sister in her arms.

"I'm so sorry Gabi, that it didn't work out. If he doesn't care for you like I thought he did, I'm sorry I led you down the wrong path with that but even more so, he doesn't deserve you. Things will work out, you'll meet someone new," Daniella soothed, feeling Gabriella's body shake for a little while before Gabriella slowly regained control. "You okay?"

"Daniella, it's not that he doesn't love me but that he does. That voicemail, it was him telling me he was sorry and that he was in love with me. Troy Bolton is actually in love with me and I just, oh God, I let him leave thinking that I wanted him erased from my life."

Daniella gently pulled away from Gabriella, turning her sister's body so that Gabriella was facing Daniella now. "Is that really what you want Gabi? For Troy to no longer be part of your past, your present, or your future? Is it over?"

Without a thought, Gabriella whispered, "No, I want him."

"Then why are you crying? What's with the indecision?"

Clearing her throat, Gabriella turned her head to watch random people walk by for a few moments, feeling her heart tug especially as she saw a happy couple walk by. "I'm crying because my heart is telling me to go to him now, to make everything better. My heart is in love with Troy Bolton, foolish or not. My head though is keeping me here, reminding me of everything he just put me through. It's my head that doesn't trust him. So what do I follow Daniella? My heart or my head?"

All Daniella could do was give Gabriella another hug, letting the silence grow between the sisters as Daniella didn't have an answer for her sister and knew, with Daniella's own track record with matters of the heart, that Daniella was the last one to give Gabriella advice.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Will someone please tell me why we're here, in the cold, standing around a field mapped out by orange cones this early in the morning? I can fucking see my breath," Sharpay complained, running her gloved hands over her arms that were covered by a sweater and a jacket.

Taylor laughed, helping Gabriella set up the spectator chairs that Zeke and Chad had left them with to put along the sidelines for those people who wanted to watch. "We're here because our boyfriends play in this Turkey Bowl every year. Same time, same place. I think they've been doing this since junior year in high school."

Without a thought, Gabriella corrected Taylor. "Actually, it's been happening every year since junior high, specifically the seventh grade."

Sharpay and Taylor exchanged a look at this tidbit of knowledge Gabriella had before Taylor turned her attention back to setting up the last chair she had. "So, Gabriella, when did Zeke give you the history of this good old Turkey Bowl? You'd think my boyfriend would tell me this stuff and not just his best friend."

Gabriella was silent for a few beats before she revealed that it wasn't Zeke who had told her. "Troy told me a few weeks ago. One of those nights we stayed up just talking to each other, getting to know each other."

The quietness of Gabriella's voice saddened both Sharpay and Taylor, missing the happy Gabriella that existed before a few weeks ago. Before either could say anything, Taylor spotted Zeke and Chad walking over and decided to approach the subject of Troy with Gabriella at a later time. "Hey guys! You all warmed up?"

"Hey ladies," Chad greeted in return, kissing Taylor soundly before pulling away.

Zeke gave Gabriella a hug first before he gave Sharpay a squeeze, kissing her lightly on the lips. "I think we're stretched out, but the game doesn't start for another ten minutes. Both teams are still missing a few people. Jason isn't here yet for example."

"You sure he's awake? We all know Jason can sleep through a thunderstorm, earthquake, and tsunami alarm all at once," Chad joked.

"He was up when Zeke and I stopped by his parents' house on the way here," Sharpay volunteered, seeing Ryan pull up just then and park. "Looks like Ryan just got here. Thanks again for including him this year by the way."

"Dude is cool. Not quite sure what happened to you." Chad quickly dodged a slap from Sharpay but still got hurt when Taylor slapped the back of his head for Sharpay. "Oh come on, that was a joke!"

"Sure it was," Zeke replied, chuckling as Sharpay continued to glare. The chuckles left Zeke though when he glanced over to his left and saw the silent member of their little group looking distantly off at Troy who was talking to a few old classmates from East High, dressed in the red sweatpants that used to be part of their basketball uniform at East High and a East High Wildcats basketball t-shirt. "Gabs?"

Zeke tried saying her name a few more times before giving up, realizing that something was definitely going on in that head of Gabriella's. When she started walking across the field though, Zeke started after her to stop Gabriella's actions but halted as Sharpay reached out and stopped him. "Let her go."

"Huh? How can you tell me that after everything Pay?" Zeke questioned, looking from Gabriella to Sharpay and then back again. "Whether she's going to rip into him or kiss him, don't you think she needs back up?"

"Well no, definitely not if it is to kiss him and I don't think she's going to rip into him, at least from what she's said in the last twenty-four hours. She's a confused mess Zeke, and she needs to be able to sort this all out."

"But he hurt her…"

"Right," Sharpay agreed, having her own feelings on this. "But this is her life and I know Gabriella is smart. She'll figure out what's best for her and the rest is up to us as far as supporting her."

"How can you not want to pound that guy in though when you think about what he's done?"

"Trust me, if I had my way, Troy Bolton would not be able to perform for any woman after I was through with him, but it's not my choice. Plus, Zeke, I thought you were doing that whole peace thing with him."

"I'm trying," Zeke conceded. "I guess you're right but I just don't want to see her hurt any more by him."

Chad overheard parts of Zeke's and Sharpay's conversation while he was chatting with Taylor and decided to throw his own two cents in. "I don't think Troy would do that to her, not now. I know none of us guys have been talking about the whole beef between you and Troy, or rather you have with Troy, but Hoops is really messed up over what happened to her, and what he did to make that happen. Zeke, you've known Troy for years now. You know he'd never in his right mind really hurt someone with full intentions."

"Then why her of all people to make his first victim?"

"Because of Nicole," Taylor answered, not even needing to hear Troy's side to know that the plan Troy was involved in was the brainchild of the Kappa Phi Sigma president.

"So wait. All of you are on Troy's side now?"

Taylor shook her head. "Maybe Chad is but Sharpay and I aren't. Thing is though, what we realized on our plane ride over together on Friday afternoon is that this is Gabriella's life. We've seen her royally pissed at Troy and Nicole both and we've seen her extremely depressed, all in the time span of a week. Right now, she seems more in control, as well as rational, and we have to let her make her own decisions and support her, even if we don't agree that she should be going back to Troy. Besides, we don't know if that's really her intentions."

"We know how you feel Zeke, truly we do," Sharpay said, placing her hand on the side of Zeke's neck and stroking it in a soothing manner she knew he liked. "Just like when you officially asked me out, I got all the encouragement in the world but Tay and Gabi let me decide for me whether or not it was the right decision and I made the right one, yeah? Same thing is going on here."

Zeke sighed, knowing Sharpay was right. "I just, I don't want her hurt anymore, especially not by one of my best friends."

"Dude, I know I've been protecting Troy and all more than really siding with you but I understand what you mean. Gabriella is a great woman from what I can see, especially if she's best friends with our girlfriends, and I don't think any of us want her or Troy hurt and right now, let's face it, both of them are in agony," Chad threw in, looking to Zeke and saw that he got his message and the two bumped fists before the little group decided to talk about something else.

On the other side of the field Troy had just finished catching up with one of his old teammates who was playing on the same team as him, Chad, Jason, Ryan and Zeke this year when he first spotted her, thinking he was losing it.

After blinking a few times though he realized that it really was Gabriella who was quickly walking over to him, dressed in dark jeans with a white top under a brown zippered hoodie. He quickly looked around, realizing that there was no one else that Gabriella could know around, turning his attention back on her just in time to catch the last few yards she covered before she stopped in front of him, giving him a shy smile.

"Hi," she softly greeted.

"Umm, hey," Troy replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he got that familiar warm feeling he knew to associate with Gabriella being near. "You came to support Zeke?"

Gabriella nodded, glancing over her shoulder to see Sharpay, Taylor, Chad, and Zeke all happily talking together, none of them glancing their way.

When she looked back at Troy, she saw the uncertainty there and knew that she had probably surprised Troy. After the morning they talked two days earlier, he didn't return later in the day for his usual brownie and mocha and he hadn't been back since. "Actually I'm here to support him, Chad, Jason, Ryan, and you."

"Me?" Troy looked up at her shocked. "I thought, well…I thought you didn't want anything to do with me." Although confused, Troy was beginning to feel hope blossom again but he tried to reign it in, knowing that this could mean anything.

"You left before I could say anything different CP," Gabriella returned, uttering a nickname she hadn't used in ages for Troy.

Instead of Troy feeling insulted for being called Campus Player again, he found himself smiling back at her, feeling deep down that the nickname crossing her lips was a sign. "Oh, is that so angel?"

Gabriella nodded, fighting a small grin. "In hindsight, I was planning on saying before you left that I don't think I would have joined Kappa Phi Sigma. I was also going to tell you that I would have taken up a job somewhere other than the gym because I feel like I get paid for studying there and constantly feel guilty about that."

"Hey, don't knock that job," Troy teased. "Lots of people would kill for a job like that, including myself."

"You would," Gabriella joked back, before turning serious once more. "But the truth is though, since I thought of those things as things I'd like to change on Tuesday, I've had almost two whole days to think about them and I know now that I wouldn't change a thing."

Licking his lips, Troy stood there as he saw how thoughtful Gabriella looked in that moment, seeing the quiet beauty that surrounded her in moments like this and what a contrast it was to the raw sexiness she was when she was feisty. There of course were all the other moments in between, all of which Troy found appealing except for the heartbroken moments…those moments he wished he could wipe away. "You really wouldn't change a single thing?"

"I can't change one thing and keep what I have in my life which makes me happy. Without Kappa Phi Sigma I would never have met Sharpay who is one of my closest friends, even if Taylor had joined without me. Without my job at the gym I wouldn't have met Zeke and he's one best friend I don't think I could live without, ever."

"Yeah, Zeke is a great guy," Troy commented, wondering if there was more Gabriella realized, praying that there was.

Gabriella swallowed the large lump in her throat as she stared into those deep blue eyes that seemed to be staring right into her soul, wondering if he could tell what she was thinking, what she was feeling. "I also wouldn't change getting to know you Troy. Despite the heartache and bad calls, you've been great as a friend, and maybe I'm crazy…but I still feel like I need to have you in my life."

"Really?" Troy asked, uncertain if it was wise to let the hope show in his voice, in his face, but knowing he had no real control over that now.

"You need to know that I'm still hurt and this doesn't make everything go away, but I do want to try being friends Troy, slowly. When you owned up to everything and took responsibility, that spoke volumes to me. As much as I may hurt, the fact that you didn't hide behind anyone or anything shows strength in character and I value that quite a bit. So, if it's okay with you, we can't start over but I'd like to move on as friends."

His heart plummeted at her words but Troy's mind told him to take what he could get, especially as that was actually more than he deserved, Gabriella's offer of friendship. "I think I can handle that. Again, I really am so sorry Brie."

Gabriella glanced at the top of her tennis shoes before she looked back and met his eyes. "I know you are. Just give me time, okay? Good luck out there today CP."

"Thanks angel," he murmured, watching as Gabriella gave him a small smile before walking away, leaving him feel that much better about the situation but still disappointed. 'What else did you expect though Troy? You betrayed her trust, you broke her heart. You're damn lucky she even wants to be friends.'

* * *

When halftime was called by the official referee, in this instance it being Taylor who was in charge of the digital watch that was keeping track of time, both teams of mostly former East High classmates migrated onto opposite sides of the field, the team being led by Chad meeting next to where Sharpay, Taylor, and Gabriella were sitting. All three girls had mingled with the other women who had shown up with some of the other guys but now Taylor, Sharpay and Gabriella were busy handing the guys on their side of the field water bottles.

After Gabriella handed Troy the last bottle of water, he took it from her and smiled. "Thanks angel."

"Welcome CP," she returned, giving him a smile back before walking towards Zeke to congratulate him on some great passes she saw.

Chad caught the exchange between Troy and Gabriella though and threw his childhood best friend a look. "Things cool again?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, downing half the bottle of water before deciding to answer Chad. "Sort of or as cool as they can be man. I'll take whatever she gives me though."

"That's the way Hoops!" Chad encouraged, patting Troy's shoulder. "You've been doing great out there too. I always wondered why you didn't join football in high school with the moves and speed you have."

"Umm, cause my dad would have freaked out?"

"Come on, Coach may put a lot of pressure on you to be a great basketball player but I think he'd have supported you playing football."

Arching an eyebrow, Troy gave Chad a look of disbelief. "Seriously? Man, how easily you forget. Dad gives me hell whenever he hears that I'm doing something that isn't basketball related…same back then as it is now. Being on the golf team took him not speaking to me for two solid weeks and forbidding me from using any of his money to buy clubs and anything related to golf. I got a job when I barely could keep up with schoolwork to get all my own equipment. Yeah, I know that's hardly anything compared to most people as everyone works, even in high school, but the tension at home that I came home to made it almost unbearable. I'd rather have worked two jobs than have to come home to what I did."

"You know, you haven't talked about Coach lately. Everything okay there, now?"

Troy shook his head. "It wouldn't be home if everything was okay. Old man is pissed that I'm not taking basketball seriously enough. I mean, he really and truly wanted me to seriously meet with scouts last year when they came around and is already on my case now even before season really starts. Truth is Chad, life isn't all about basketball and basketball isn't who I am."

Chad noticed the way Troy looked off to the side to gaze at Gabriella as he said the last part, giving Chad the distinct impression that Troy now considered Gabriella to be part of his life. Chad kept from saying more though as he saw a familiar woman walking their way, grown up in looks since the last time he had seen her, with new blond highlights in her hair, realizing that he needed to get Troy out of there quick. "Come on guys, let's get out on that field and keep this lead to win what could be our last Turkey Bowl!"

The guys gathered around Chad and Troy to do a quick huddle before they all ran back onto the field to continue the game, Troy being absolutely unaware of the piece of his past that had just walked back into his life.

As the game had progressed, the number of "accidental" body tackles continued to increase, especially at the end. A few of the other guys on the opposite team had been part of the varsity football team back when they were all juniors and seniors but there wasn't enough of them to make a solid front. It was enough however to make it a closer game in the end, cutting down Chad's team's lead of seventeen down to four, the end score being 49-45.

Once everyone shook hands and shared compliments and last rounds of digs into each other, some lingered while others took off immediately to go home for their own family traditions.

Gabriella was working with Zeke and Taylor to fold up the chairs and gather all the trash when she happened to look over to where she had last seen Troy by himself to now see him standing there a bit tensely as he faced a woman of average size with dark brown hair with blond highlights, a grin on her lips as she looked back at him. "Zeke, who is that?"

Zeke looked up and swore as he saw what Gabriella was seeing. "That's Monica, we went to school with her."

Sparing Zeke a glance, Gabriella put the last bottle she picked up into the trash bag Taylor was holding and then stopped to observe Troy's body language seeing how clearly uncomfortable he was. "That's Monica? The girl that shattered Troy?"

"He told you?" Zeke asked, clearly surprised. "Troy doesn't like to open that chapter in his life."

"I know and it was a struggle for him to tell me but he did. God, the pain he must be going through right now," Gabriella murmured, too absorbed in what could be going on yards away to see the silent communication that occurred between Taylor and Zeke in that moment. When Gabriella saw Troy wince as Monica laid a hand on his arm, she knew she had to do something, regardless of what had just recently transpired between them.

For Troy, it was as if he had gone back in time, to the night that Troy had caught his then girlfriend getting screwed by a guy he had just finished playing football with. It had never crossed his mind that Monica would show up to the Turkey Bowl considering the past three years she hadn't shown up. Of course though, the stars decided to bring his ex back into his life as a form of punishment, one that Troy understood he deserved but still wished he didn't have to live through.

At first when he saw Monica walking towards him, Troy had thought he was hallucinating, thinking that maybe seeing all his former classmates made him think of her, but the second he felt her hand on his arm, it all became much more real to him. He stepped away from that touch as quickly as he could, feeling his body chill from the same hand that used to make him warm back in high school. "Please, don't," Troy said sternly.

"What's the matter Troy? I thought you'd be excited to see me," Monica cooed, smiling brightly at him still. "I heard you guys were playing again this year and had this strong urge to come and see you guys. I'm hurt that you didn't see me before."

"Well we were playing a game," he pointed out, trying to put up a sturdy front when internally Troy was freaking out. His emotions were ranging quickly from being pissed off that Monica showed up to being heartbroken as he re-lived all the pain she had caused him and then back again, not quite sure what he should be feeling then.

"Yes, that's right, but you've always managed to throw me a smile or a wink when you were playing games in high school."

"Yeah, well, things change."

"I can definitely agree with that. Speaking of change, Troy, you look way hotter than you did back in high school. What do you lift now? Your muscles have grown, that's for sure."

Troy felt Monica's finger make contact with his mid-section and swore in his head as he backed up again. "Please, just stop. I don't know what you really intended to do by coming here, specifically to talk to me, but I have no interest in talking to you."

"Well I kind of had something in mind that didn't involve talking," Monica returned, clearly painting a picture in Troy's mind as to what she wanted, causing Troy to want to gag. "What do you say stud?"

"Troy, baby, I've been waiting for you forever! That was such an amazing game babe!" a familiar voice called out, throwing Troy just the lifesaver he needed before he drowned in the memories of Monica and the pain associated with her.

Troy quickly turned, easily catching Gabriella as she threw herself into his arms, hugging her tight out of both want and need. Before Troy knew what she was up to, he felt Gabriella's soft lips press against his as she stood up on her tiptoes, feeling her hands slide through his sweaty hair as she deepened the kiss. Just as Troy was getting into it, Gabriella pulled away, smiling up at him as if the last several days had never happened, before she looked to her right and blushed.

"Is this an old friend of yours Troy?" she sweetly asked while running her hand down his arm, that twinkle in her brown eyes being enough for Troy to realize that Gabriella knew exactly who the other woman was.

"No, just an old memory," Troy managed to answer, dropping his left arm reluctantly but keeping his right arm snugly wrapped around Gabriella's waist, finding even more power to face Monica as he felt Gabriella's body mold around his, her own arm wrapping around his waist with her head leaning against his shoulder. "Gabriella, angel, this is Monica."

"Monica? I don't think you've ever mentioned her before," Gabriella replied, confusion in her voice. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you Monica. I hear so many wonderful things about Troy's high school experience, especially senior year, and how great East High was. I really missed out by living just a few blocks off that East High and West High district cutoff."

Monica was floored, to say the least. First by the appearance of the bubbly brunette and second by the fact that Troy had never mentioned her. "Actually, I am the love of Troy's life. We talk all the time and he's never mentioned he has a girlfriend to me."

Before Troy could slam Monica down for that round of lies, Gabriella swooped in and did it for him. "Oh really? That's funny because Troy and I have been together for a while now and we're so honest with each other. We talk about everything and I know that if he was talking to you that Troy would have told me and I would at least know that small bit about you. I don't know anything at all though. Seems to me like you just might have just had the biggest crush on Troy here…I understand he was quite the East High stud…and you just thought you could come here now and try to make a move right? Sorry sweetie but he's happily taken, aren't you babe?"

Unable to do anything else, but definitely confused now yet unwilling to let Monica see it, Troy nodded, leaning down to kiss Gabriella's forehead before sharing in another kiss. "You are my world Brie, totally and completely."

Gabriella heard his words and knew instinctively that they came from his heart, something Gabriella didn't take for granted before she moved on to face Monica again. "Sorry Monique but you'll just have to find another guy as sexy, hot, intelligent and wonderful as Troy is to go after. I'm sure you'll find someone out there for you who is exactly what you deserve."

"Listen bitch, it's Monica, and if you don't know about me then I'd tell you for sure that Troy isn't as honest and open with you as you think he is," Monica raged, narrowing her eyes on Gabriella. "I am Troy's high school sweetheart. We were together for most likely longer than you two have been together and I know I still own a piece of Troy's heart."

Feeling as if Gabriella had done more than enough to help him, Troy clucked his tongue, proud of himself for managing his still ranging emotions and thoughts enough to make a united front with Gabriella but more so to take a stand for himself finally. "Nobody calls Gabriella a bitch, no one. If anyone is a bitch here it's you Monica. Why is it so hard to believe that I wouldn't talk to you or about you three plus years after you left my life completely? I haven't seen you in ages. Why dwell on a small thing in the past?"

"A small thing? A small thing Troy? That's bullshit and you know it! You're just bitter that I got it better than you ever gave back in high school without you knowing," Monica accused. "How did that feel? Knowing that while you were so sickly devoted to me that I was enjoying the company of so many other guys? So you see, Gabriella, I'm not just some pathetic girl with a crush on Troy from high school. I am so much more."

"You know, she's right," Troy said to Gabriella, looking at her before he looked back at his ex. "Monica, you are more than just a girl with a crush. You're a deceitful bitch who I was unlucky enough not to see through. That's okay though because I learned from you, I learned a lot, and it's helped me become a much better and stronger person. In fact, it helped me find Gabriella here because I already knew all the tricks in the books that you used to pull on me, so I knew what to look out for. Gabriella here, she's truly my angel. She's everything you ever wanted to be and has come to mean quite a bit more to me and my life than you ever did."

Gabriella looked up at Troy as she felt his squeeze her around her midsection, seeing genuine love there in his blue orbs, softening just for her before the steel filtered back in when he glanced away to look back at Monica.

"So you see, there really was nothing for me to tell Gabriella. She didn't need to know about some girl that I knew in high school that slept around with practically the entire varsity football team, who had also become a damper on my senior year because it's inconsequential now. Now, I have Gabriella, and that's all that matters to me."

"Aww, sweetie, I adore you," Gabriella cooed, smiling against Troy's lips as they once again kissed, Troy pulling away before he was tempted to take it further.

"The feeling is mutual angel," he replied, leaning his forehead against hers momentarily before facing Monica again who was glaring at them both. "Anyways, Monica, if you're done I think I have to take this wonderful woman back home so we can celebrate Thanksgiving. And really, thanks for what you did. You taught me a damn good lesson that I'll never forget and it's one I'll never repeat either, especially with you."

With that, Troy and Gabriella turned and walked away, their arms still around each other, leaving Monica standing there by herself on the field with several of her former classmates staring at her. Monica looked around and saw the dirty looks she was getting and screamed in frustration, hating the fact that Troy had gotten the last word in but more so the fact that he clearly had moved on from her and had no intentions of coming back.

When Gabriella saw Monica storm off and then peel out of the parking lot, disappearing out of sight, she waited a few beats before she forced herself to extract herself from Troy's hold. In truth, Gabriella felt comfortable there with Troy but knew she couldn't let a second more pass like this, like everything was perfect between them.

Troy let Gabriella go, feeling immediately cold as Gabriella stepped out of his hold, her eyes giving him an apology right away but the distance now between their bodies speaking even more. "Thank you Brie. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," Gabriella answered simply. "Friends do that for one another, give whatever support they can and I figured that was the best support you needed. Was she always, well…has she always been that way?"

Troy shook his head. "No, she used to be quite sweet but as time passed, she changed and clearly since high school Monica has evolved to be, well, pretty much like Nicole I suspect."

"Even more reason why I needed to do that then. Just, Troy, understand I still just want to be friends, okay? I realized half way through my quickly conceived plan that it probably wasn't the wisest approach because of everything between us but it was the first thing I thought of."

Feeling his hopes leave him yet again, Troy studied Gabriella's face and saw she was hoping that he'd understand and forgive her for playing with him the past few minutes since it was for a good cause.

Realizing she wasn't purposefully trying to get his hopes up and tear him down, Troy nodded. "I get it, really. Just means even more that you did that for me, to help me move on and get over someone who broke my heart, very much so like how I broke yours."

"You didn't cheat on me Troy," Gabriella quickly corrected, not wanting him to leave with that thought. "That's probably one of the worst things someone can do to someone they love, well next to actually killing them anyway," she added earning a small laugh from Troy.

"Look, I have to head home. I'm late and my parents are going to kill me. I'll see you back at campus?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, I'll see you. Thanks again Gabriella. Happy Thanksgiving angel."

"Happy Thanksgiving CP," Gabriella returned, giving him a small smile before she turned her back on the charged atmosphere that had surrounded them and walked away with the knowledge that despite everything that happened, Troy still made Gabriella tingle and made her world move.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The basketball swished through the net, the sound like music to Troy's ears as he went to get the ball before dribbling back to the top of the key to take another shot. Over the years, he always had found a certain peace playing on his own court in his backyard, and today was no different.

After he'd woke up late that morning, still feeling the effects of the turkey coma from Thanksgiving the day before, Troy had decided to shoot some hoops, hoping not to get too lazy on his break with the season right around the corner.

Troy grinned as another one swished through, feeling an extra bounce to his step, knowing it was due to his conversation with Gabriella a few days earlier. Before she had come over to him that day, he had convinced himself that his hopes with her were gone.

After their conversation in the coffee house, Troy had felt his heart sink, experiencing a hopelessness he'd never felt, not even when Monica had cheated on him in high school. The feeling that he no longer had a shot with the one girl he truly cared for and could see himself with was heart wrenching.

Even though Gabriella had only said they could be friends at this point, Troy still held onto the hope that one day soon they could be more. He knew that she had every right to never want anything more with him but he wasn't going to miss an opportunity if one arose. He had made up his mind that he would be the best friend he could be to her right now, because he had to stay close. If she decided she was ready for more, he didn't want to miss his chance.

Gabriella deserved a great guy and he was going to make sure he was well deserving of her. Troy was going to show her that even though he couldn't suddenly stop and change who he was, he was going to be the guy she had grown to be attracted to over the past few months. He was going to be the good guy she saw in him. Gabriella deserved nothing less.

"Hey son, that shot's looking good. You're still not using enough of your legs in your jump shot though."

Hearing his dad come up behind him, Troy groaned and rolled his eyes. He had hoped his dad would leave him alone. Getting harped on about basketball was not his idea of a break.

"Thanks Dad," Troy mumbled, before taking another shot, praying his dad would see he was not up for talking, sighing in defeat a few moments later as his dad didn't take the hint.

"How often have you been working out this year?"

"Every day Dad," Troy answered shortly, taking another shot.

Before Troy could retrieve the rebound though, his dad got there first, holding the ball as he looked at Troy.

"How many hours a day? What kind of drills have you been working on? You lifting too?"

"As much as I can Dad…the season hasn't even started yet," he finished, clapping his hands as he demanded the ball back.

"Troy, if you want to be in the NBA, you have to work hard. You can't just skate by into the draft. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication," Jack said sternly, bounce passing the ball back. "You do want it, don't you?"

"Sure Dad."

"That didn't sound too convincing to me son. You're going to have a tough time convincing the scouts with an attitude like that."

"Dad, the year has just started. And I have other things to worry about besides ball, like classes and the fraternity, and-"

"The fraternity is something that should not be taking up this much of your time. You're not spending all that money to waste away your time partying and ruining your chances at the draft."

"Dad, there's more to the frat than just partying. You know it too. Hell, you were in one in college. And I am not wasting my money. I'm focused on the things I need to be, maybe not on the things you want me to be. Newsflash, it's _my_ life," Troy finished, his tone becoming angrier as his emotions grew.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me! Living in this house or not, you are still my son and you will _not_ disrespect me."

"Hate to break it to you Dad but respect goes both ways."

Walking past his dad, Troy bounced the ball so it landed in Jack's hands, not bothering to stick around and talk anymore as he walked straight inside, finally feeling some sense of relief for being able to tell his dad what he'd wanted to for awhile.

* * *

"So you're sure you and Sharpay are both okay with this?"

"Gabs, stop worrying."

"Well, you can't blame me can you? You should know how crazy she can get at times. Turn right and it's the third house on the right." Gabriella read off the directions as she and Zeke continued their drive to Kelsi's friend's place.

"I know she can get crazy, but you two are close, and she knows we are just friends. Trust me, everything's fine. You know all of this anyways. You've talked with Shar yourself," Zeke assured her as he parked the car alongside the curb.

"I know, I know. I just don't want to ruin another friendship." Gabriella mumbled the last bit under her breath which didn't go unnoticed by Zeke who heard it all.

"Gabs," Zeke reached out and squeezed her shoulder getting her to look at him. "You're not going to lose any friends alright?"

Gabriella nodded before looking out the window at the house that could possibly become her new home.

"Let's go and check it out, huh?" Zeke suggested, turning off the engine and opening his door before stepping outside, Gabriella following his lead.

The two had just gotten back from Albuquerque and had immediately hopped into the car to go over and meet Kelsi's friend who had some rooms to rent out. Looking up at the house, Gabriella was surprised at how much she liked it at first glance.

The house was a two story white house with blue trim, with a white picket fence out front surrounding a well kept yard. Gabriella smiled and took a deep breath, breathing in the ocean air. Located only a few blocks from the beach, with a porch swing out on the front deck where Gabriella could see herself curled up reading a book, Gabriella decided she definitely wouldn't mind living here.

"Looks nice," Zeke commented as he walked up beside her, sharing a small smile. "Let's hope it looks as good inside too."

Opening up the small gate in front, Zeke ushered Gabriella up the sidewalk to the front door before reaching over to ring the doorbell.

Seconds later, the door swung open, a bubbly curly-haired brunette standing there with a big smile. "Hi, I'm Martha. Zeke and Gabriella right?" Martha Cox asked, reaching out to shake their hands.

"It's nice to meet you Martha," Gabriella greeted back, breaking the ice. "Thanks for making time for us to stop by right after the holidays."

"Oh no problem at all!" Martha said quickly, brushing the detail to the side. "Kelsi told me that you both needed a place to stay, and well, I'm in need of roommates and could use some extra income."

"This is a great place you've got here," Zeke added, peering inside.

"Thanks, it's my parent's place actually. They didn't want me to have to live on campus, so they bought it and have had me rent rooms out. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, my roommates from earlier this semester decided they didn't want to live here anymore. They wanted to get the campus life experience apparently. So they left, and here we are. Anyways, come in, come in!" Martha offered excitedly, stepping aside and ushering the two in.

Gabriella and Zeke stepped inside, their eyes roaming around the entryway, seeing a living room to the right, a kitchen down the hallway in front of them with a screen door opened up to a backyard, and another room to the left along with a staircase leading to the second floor.

"So, I guess I'll take you both on the tour first," Martha said, walking into the first room on the right.

"A flat screen?!" Zeke asked, his jaw dropping as he stared at it, causing Gabriella to giggle.

"Well, I guess Zeke is sold on the idea," Gabriella mumbled under her breath, earning a playful shove from Zeke.

Martha laughed at the two, walking a little further into the room. "My parents gave me their old one recently. Anyways, this is the living room. We have satellite as well, and of course, you are welcome to use it. We split the cost of all the bills. And Zeke, if you want, I'm not opposed to you having your friends over to watch games or whatever."

"Awesome!" Zeke smiled like a kid in a candy store.

"Let's look at the rest of the house Zeke," Gabriella laughed, tugging on his arm and following Martha into the kitchen which had wood floors and a huge island in the middle with some barstools around it.

"I could definitely get used to this," Zeke breathed out, looking around excitedly.

"He cooks too," Gabriella informed Martha, who was looking slightly confused.

"Oh good! I'm not a cook at all. Microwave dinners are where it's at for me," she told them, not noticing Zeke's shocked look at her revelation. "Anyways, should we keep going?"

Nodding, Zeke and Gabriella followed Martha around the rest of the house, both of them impressed by the size of what would be their bedrooms, already furnished with furniture, which were located across the hall from each other, with Martha's room and a bathroom down to the end of the hall with another empty bedroom further down the hall.

"So that's it for upstairs. There's a couple more downstairs I didn't show you guys, so we can go check those out and then talk about the details."

Leading them downstairs through the sitting room across the hall from the living room, Martha paused and glanced at the closed door down the hall before smiling, having a feeling Zeke was going to flip when he saw the room.

"This, is the game room," Martha said before pushing open the door and stepping inside, turning back to look at Zeke and Gabriella and grinning at their expressions.

Zeke and Gabriella both glanced around the room, Zeke's eyes widening as his eyes landed on the pool table in the center.

"My dad had bought a pool table for cheap from a neighbor and my mom forbade it in the house so they gave it to me instead."

"You play Guitar Hero?" Zeke asked, his eyes focusing on the two guitars leaning against the couch and the drum set located in the corner.

"Yeah, a little bit," Martha admitted shyly, before quickly changing the subject. "Anyways, we set up a stereo system in here and I bought the furniture and all. It's just a cool place to hang out and you both are more than welcome to use it of course."

"Thanks Martha. I think you don't have to worry about Zeke feeling unwelcome to use it at all," Gabriella teased Zeke as she saw his eyes were still wide as he glanced around the room.

"Damn right she doesn't have to worry."

Martha smiled before exiting the room, Gabriella following with Zeke in tow as she pulled him by the arm to get his attention, the three continuing down the hall and stopping at the end.

Martha nervously opened the door, looking back at Zeke and Gabriella. "So this is the garage…"

"You play drums?" Gabriella asked, surprised as she saw the drum set that was set up in the corner.

"Nope, but one of my friends does. I'm actually in a band."

"Really? That's awesome!" Zeke complimented, looking around at all of the posters on the walls.

"Yeah, for a few years now. And actually, that's partly why I have such trouble keeping roommates. They don't really like the noise from the band. We usually only practice during the day or on weekends though and we try to be respectful of everyone's schedule," Martha rambled quickly, hoping to convince them. "Really, if you guys have studying to do or aren't feeling well or have friends over…we won't be disrupting all of that."

"Martha, it's okay," Gabriella interrupted amusedly. "I am sure that it will work out just fine and I won't mind the music…honestly. Trust me, living on Greek Row, you have to deal with all kinds of partying and noise throughout the day and night. This will be minor compared to that. I've trained myself to study and sleep through far worse."

"I'm with Gabriella. I don't mind at all. In fact, I think it's pretty awesome," Zeke told her, still in awe of everything about the house.

"That's great! Thanks you guys."

"So do you play any instruments then?"

Martha looked over at Gabriella, shaking her head. "No, not really. Mostly I sing."

"You guys do a lot of concerts?"

"We've played at a few coffee shops and done a few events at school. Nothing major but music is a passion of mine so I enjoy being able to do it any chance I get. Anyways, enough about me. You want to go sit out on the patio out back and we can talk details?"

"Sounds like a plan," Gabriella agreed, following Martha out of the garage as the three made their way into the kitchen, grabbing some drinks and snacks before making their way outside.

"This really is a beautiful place," Gabriella complimented as the three sat down at the table on the back patio, her eyes drifting across the back lawn to where there was a hammock hanging between two trees. Yep, she could definitely see herself living here.

"Thank you Gabriella. I'm glad you both agreed to come check it out."

"Of course. You sure your parents don't mind me living here?" Zeke spoke up uncertainly, worried that they may think it inappropriate for a guy to be staying there.

"Oh no, I let them know, and they have no problem. They said as long as I'm okay with it, they are. To tell you the truth, I think they feel that I'm safer with a guy living here. Besides, Kelsi says you both are great, and I can tell that already too. So no problems there," Martha assured him, Zeke smiling in response.

"Well, the price to live here is not that bad, and as you can tell, we both love the place," Gabriella added, hoping Martha was being honest and really did like them enough to let them move in.

"Great, let's talk about you two moving in then. Kelsi mentioned you are both moving out of Greek Row?" she asked as the two nodded. "When are you planning on moving out? Whenever you are ready to move in, you are welcome to. When are you guys hoping to move in?"

"Today?" Zeke mumbled, his mouth full with a cookie he'd grabbed from the table, groaning as Gabriella not so subtly elbowed him in the side.

Martha laughed at the two, taking a sip of water. "No, today is fine. I know you two came back early and I'm sure you don't want to go back to Greek Row to stay unnecessarily. As long as you both are fine with living here, then my house is yours."

"That'd be awesome Martha, thank you so much," Gabriella said, the three standing up with Gabriella going over to give her a hug. "You sure you don't mind us moving in today? We can find some place to stay for the night if you want to think it over more."

"Oh, no, not at all," Martha quickly assured. "Really, it's no problem. Today is great. I need roommates to help with my own finances along with the mortgage and you two seem great. I wouldn't want you guys to not have some place to stay tonight or end up back at Greek Row when you could be here already."

"Well I can't really go back anyways," Zeke admitted, looking at Martha to see her looking at him curiously after his comment. "Long story," he grinned, glancing at Gabriella who was shaking her head in amusement.

"I guess I'll figure that one out later," Martha laughed, knowing the story would come out eventually. "Anyways, as far as logistics, like I said, my parents want everyone to put a deposit down for the year, which is two hundred dollars each, and then rent is due on the tenth of each month. We'll just split everything three ways and as far as food is concerned, we can work that out later."

"Sounds great to me," Zeke told her with a smile. "I guess Gabs and I will go start getting our stuff and we'll see you back here in a bit."

"Perfect."

After helping Martha clear off the patio table of the dishes there, the two made their way through the house and out to the car to head back to campus.

"So you're sure about this right?" Gabriella asked nervously as the two pulled out onto the street back towards campus.

"Gabs, how many times do I have to tell you? Seriously, this is going to be great. Shar doesn't mind, and of course I don't mind living in the same place as my best friend. Really. This is gonna be a lot of fun!"

"It will be."

"Yeah, plus, now that we're living in the same house, I'll get to see you wake up in the morning all groggy and with bed hair. Blackmail pictures by the dozens," Zeke smirked, failing at his attempt to duck as Gabriella reached over and smacked his head.

"I hope you know that if you try anything like that, I'll call your mom and have her send me those pictures of you sleeping and cuddling with your baby blanket when you were a freshman in high school. And we both know there are more embarrassing pictures too that I'm sure Sharpay and all your friends would love to see."

"You wouldn't?"

"Try me," Gabriella challenged with a smirk, laughing at Zeke's defeated look.

"Is it too late to change my mind?"

"Yep."

"Crap."

* * *

After his talk with his dad, Troy had grabbed a quick snack from the kitchen before heading up to his room in attempts to avoid his dad. About an hour later, after hearing his dad leave, Troy took a shower and made his way downstairs, smiling as he spotted his mom in the kitchen.

"Hey Mom, what are you up to?" Troy asked, taking a seat at the kitchen counter.

"Oh hey sweetie," Lucille greeted, wiping off her hands that had flour on them before walking over to Troy, giving him a hug and kiss on his forehead. "I'm just baking some cookies."

"Cookies? Mom, you were around yesterday right?" Troy asked incredulously, noticing all of the left over cakes and pies on the counter and remembering the piles of leftovers in the refrigerator.

"Of course I was," Lucille brushed him off, busying herself again with her baking. "I can't have my son go back to school without some goodies to take with him. You say the food isn't that bad but I know better, even if that frat of yours has a cook."

"Alright, you win," Troy chuckled, holding his hands up in defeat. "I hope you are making more than one batch though."

"Don't worry Troy…I remember that you live at the same place as Chad," Lucille laughed, catching on right away to Troy's train of thought. "Do you want something to eat sweetie?"

"No thanks Mom," Troy answered, getting up and grabbing some chips from a bowl on the counter and popping them into his mouth. "I'm actually going to head into town for a bit. What time is Dad getting back?"

"He went down to the office for a bit but he'll be back in time for dinner."

Troy nodded, before making his way out of the kitchen, pausing as he heard his mom call his name.

"Troy," Lucille began, stopping her mixing of the cookie dough to look up at him. "I know your father is tough on you and has always been that way. Just know that he does care for you. I hope you know that. We both miss you like crazy when you are gone at school."

"He has a funny way of showing it."

"I know, I know," his mother soothed, in a caring, motherly tone. "He really does miss you when you are gone though. I often catch him at night watching tapes of one of your high school or college games…I've even seen him watching videos of you playing ball as a kid with him out in the backyard."

"Back in the days when it was fun," Troy mumbled, his eyes connecting with his mom's and seeing the understanding there.

"Listen," Lucille took a few steps closer to her son, placing her hand gently on his shoulder. "Don't let him get to you. We're both proud of you regardless of basketball. I know he doesn't show it all the time but you are an adult now and we trust you to make the right decisions at school and for your future. Just don't forget to have fun with basketball and everything else at school, alright?"

"Thanks Mom." Troy leaned down and kissed her on the cheek before wrapping her in a hug.

"Alright, now you get out of here and go do whatever you had planned to in town. Just be back for dinner at 5:00 okay?" Lucille ordered, ruffling his hair.

"I will Mom. Don't wear yourself out baking all of those cookies, alright? We both know you can't make enough for Chad anyways," Troy joked.

"Not enough cookies in the world, I know," Lucille laughed, waving at Troy as he left the kitchen and made his way out the front door.

Twenty minutes later, Troy found himself outside his new favorite place in Albuquerque. Taking a deep breath, Troy pushed open the door, in time for his usual afternoon snack, hoping to see the brunette that would make his day that much brighter.

Heading over to his usual seat, Troy couldn't help but glance around the coffee shop, his eyes searching to find Gabriella and growing more disappointed by the second as he didn't see her.

"Looking for Gabriella?"

Troy spun around in his seat to see Gabriella's older sister standing there, an ordering pad in hand and a small smile on her face.

"Um, yeah. Is she here?"

"Nah, she left earlier this morning."

"She left?" Troy asked surprised, feeling the disappointment set in as he realized his plans to start mending his friendship with Gabriella were going to have to be put on hold.

"She went back early to look for some place to live for the rest of the year."

"Oh, that makes sense," Troy muttered, the thought setting in that he wouldn't see Gabriella around as much now since she was no longer a part of Greek Life. Sure he'd see her in the gym and in class but the days were gone when he'd be able to hang out with her on Greek Row. He didn't blame her for never wanting to set foot around there again but he still couldn't shed the disappointment he was feeling.

"Mind if I take a seat?" Troy glanced up at Daniella to see her smiling down at him and motioning to the seat across from him.

"Sure, no problem."

Watching as she untied her apron and draping it over the chair before taking a seat, Troy couldn't help but wish it was her beautiful younger sister sitting across from him at the moment instead. Maybe, just maybe, Troy told himself…a talk with Daniella would bring him a little closer to Gabriella.

"She didn't mention she was heading back early?"

"No and I don't blame her. I mean, she doesn't owe me anything."

Daniella nodded, pursing her lips as she looked like she was trying to figure out what she wanted to say to him. Troy watched curiously, hoping he wasn't about to get yelled at. He knew if Gabriella was his sister, he'd be defending her too after what had happened to her. After dealing with his dad earlier that day though, Troy definitely didn't feel like getting torn apart.

"She doesn't, you're right," Daniella agreed, pausing for a moment, noticing Troy's eyes drifting to look down at the table in shame. "Listen Troy, my sister told me most of what happened and although I think you have been a major jerk to her at times, and I could kill that bitch Nicole for what she did to her, I can see that you care deeply for Gabriella. She'll probably kill me for telling you this but I also know that a part of her cares for you too. Before everything happened, I heard the excitement in her voice when she was telling me about you. I know you mean something to her and I think that despite all that has happened, you are really good for her."

The moment he heard those words, Troy looked up from the table, the guilt and shame leaving his face, being replaced with a look of shock and a bit of hope.

"You heard me right," Daniella laughed softly, noticing his shocked expression. "Most guys wouldn't spend their entire break hanging out in this coffee shop for just a glimpse of a girl who completely ignored them. Our protein shakes and brownies may be good but they're not _that_ good."

Troy chuckled, feeling slightly embarrassed as she pointed out his true reasons. "They are pretty good though."

"Thanks," she laughed before continuing. "Just give her some time Troy. She's never opened up like that to a guy. Sure she has Zeke as a best friend but you were a part of her life in a much different way. No guy has ever pursued her like you did, especially not a guy of your status. Gabriella made herself vulnerable and despite all of her own attempts to not let you get to her and to not go for a guy like you, she did, and she got burned for it."

Troy nodded solemnly, cursing himself as he thought back to all the times Gabriella had tried to stay away from him and how he slowly gained her trust and broke through all of that, only to tear her apart in the end.

"I know and I'm a fucking idiot for doing all of that to her. Just so you know, once I got to know your sister, it was never my intention to hurt her. I agreed to it at first, and I will forever regret that moment of pure stupidity, but once I got to know Gabriella, that whole plan went out the window in my mind. I pursued her because I wanted to be with her, because of who she is, not for what it could bring me."

"I know that Troy and I think she does too," Daniella assured him before pushing back her seat and standing up. "I have to get back to work now but I just wanted to let you know that if things work out between the two of you, I will have no problem with it. You may not think you deserve someone like her since Gabriella is an amazing girl and my sister does deserve the best, but I think you just might deserve her after all. Don't give up alright? I think you can be that for her and I hope you both see that soon."

"Thank you," Troy smiled genuinely, completely shocked by her words, but feeling a huge boost of hope he hadn't felt in awhile. He had expected to get lectured and possibly be told to keep away from her. Never did he really expect to gain Daniella's approval.

"You're welcome Troy," she told him, putting her apron over her neck and tying it around her back smoothly. "I'll bring you your protein shake on the house. Don't be a stranger next time you're in town okay?"

"You got it." Troy smiled as she walked over to the counter and grabbed a shake that was sitting there before making her way back towards him.

Setting the shake in front of him on the table, Daniella smiled at him once more before patting him on the shoulder. "By the way, her favorite flowers are tulips, and her dream date is a picnic on the beach. Don't screw it up."

And with a small wink at him, Daniella was off, busily helping other customers as Troy stood up, feeling a new bounce to his step. He could do this. He had the perfect date in mind now and the moment he regained her trust, he was determined to make her his and never let her go again.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

It was only the first Monday back at school after Thanksgiving break but Troy already felt like things had been irrevocably changed. Classes so far went fine, relieved at least that Gabriella and Zeke were both talking to him with no hostile looks whatsoever. There was something though that had unnerved him and Troy realized at the end of class that it was this silent new bond between the two best friends that seemed to be stronger than before. Curious as to what it could be, Troy made a mental note to figure it out later before saying goodbye to them after class and heading his own way.

But as Troy walked by the courtyard later that day, Troy realized he now saw Gabriella in yet another light as she sat there in the middle of the courtyard with Kelsi, Ryan, and a brunette who Troy had never seen before. The four were laughing but it was Gabriella who held his attention as she talked animatedly and giggled along with the others. 'She looks so happy and free…'

His eyes narrowed immediately though as he spied Tyler heading directly her way, a tiny part of him hoping that Tyler would just pass Gabriella by without a word but a larger part knowing that nothing good could come of this. Troy's gut twisted as Tyler slowed his pace and stopped in front of Gabriella, Troy quick to get up from his seat on a bench across the courtyard to start making his way towards the group, not liking what could be happening already.

"Well, well. The ex-Kappa Phi Sigma sister still lives. I thought you would have vanished completely after everything that has happened to you. You know, it was quite silly of you to even think that you could be the best on Greek Row just because you somehow temporarily casted a spell on Bolton," Tyler sneered, looking down at Gabriella who bravely met his gaze. "Maybe you're still offering your services? I'd be interested if that's the case."

When Gabriella saw Ryan begin to stand to defend her, Gabriella shook her head and stood up herself, closing the height difference but not by much since Tyler was a good five inches taller than her petite form. "Tyler is it?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, keeping a strong front as she stared at him. "Why don't you get lost? I dropped that sorority to get away from sophomoric people like you. As for these services you are talking about, I know you need tutoring as your intelligence level is clearly below average but I'm not taking any new sign ups, sorry."

Tyler heard the snickers from the three other people present and felt his anger boil as he clenched his fists at being made fun of by this nobody. "No, I think you misunderstood me. See, for Bolton to have been so into you I know you must have been giving it to him and must have been pretty good. Our president has his pick of the litter. Why the hell else would he go after you? And those naked pictures of you? I could see your little body definitely pleasing mine by moving under me."

A gasp escaped her lips as Gabriella stared back at Tyler, shocked that he could be so crass. "Honestly? The picture of what you just painted for me is vile and disgusting. I'd never willingly get caught in a situation like that with you and the only other way it would happen would be if it is classified as rape. If you are striving to be as great as Troy is on Greek Row a taint like that would for sure kill your rising reign faster than anything else. As much as the sisters may hate me, they wouldn't take fondly to that type of situation at all either and I bet many other sororities and even fraternities would turn their back on you too. Let me suggest you not go down that path and let's drop that image of yours shall we? Now, if you're done trying to attempt to degrade me and get me to cower, I'd suggest you leave."

"Or else what? What are you going to do huh?" Tyler demanded, forgetting about everyone else as he took a step closer to Gabriella, surprised she didn't shudder the slightest bit. "That luscious body of yours is a great source of fantasies but you couldn't stand up to me in a fight if it ever got to that. You pose no threat to me you little bitch…"

Tyler's words were halted though as he was quickly spun around to face a livid Troy who promptly let his right fist fly towards the younger guy's stomach, doubling Tyler immediately. Troy though reached out and steadied him by the shoulders, bending over low to growl in his ear. "If I ever, and I mean ever, catch you around Gabriella again, harassing her or playing nice, I will have you for breakfast Whitland. You may be a brother but if you behave out of bounds like this, I will have no problem slamming you down."

Drawing in a breath through his parted lips, Tyler glared at Troy for a few moments before yanking himself out of Troy's grasp and straightening, clutching his stomach still where he had felt the blow. "Why the hell are you sticking up for this slut? She's of no good use to you Troy! She's a has been on Greek Row!"

Within a split second, Troy had Tyler by the collar of his shirt, resisting the urge to deck the underclassman again. "First, she's not a slut. Second, she may be what you refer to as a 'has been' on Greek Row but she has every right to stay at this college and finish her degree here. She is definitely not a has been on the campus at large. Third, Gabriella is a friend of mine and is a part of my life whether you like it or not. I don't give a damn if you approve or not or what any other brother may think about my choice of company. Now get your moronic ass out of my sight."

Stumbling back from the shove Troy delivered him, Tyler regained his balance before he could fall onto the grass, straightening as he glowered at Troy. "You'll only be president for a few more weeks Bolton. What are you going to do after that when you don't have so much influence? When you aren't so untouchable? You'll be just like me."

"I may not be president but I have a better standing in that fraternity than you ever will if your shit attitude keeps up. You still haven't learned respect within the fraternity nor the true meaning of brotherhood or you would have been lost by now. Better yet, you wouldn't have been a complete asshole to Gabriella in the first place. Now, get lost!" Troy barked at Tyler, satisfied only when Tyler took a step back.

"This isn't the end of this Bolton. You'd better watch your back!" With those parting words, Tyler spun around and stalked away, several other students quickly getting out of his way as he began walking through groups of people on the path, most of who were already talking about the scene they had all just witnessed.

Troy ignored the stares and turned back to Gabriella who was caught gazing at him. His face softened as he saw the corner of her lip drawn in between her teeth. "Don't worry about me."

Gabriella blinked in surprise as he seemed to have read her mind. "I have to though Troy. Tyler clearly meant business and I don't want you hurt or anything."

"Are you kidding me? Angel, give me some credit here. I can hold my own against that dweeb."

"Well yeah but what if he gets others to go up against you just because of me? Maybe it is better if I just disappear from your life completely Troy."

Shaking his head, Troy reached out a hand and cupped the side of Gabriella's neck with his thumb stroking her lower cheek and jaw as he gazed into her eyes that were full of worry. "No, you can't disappear from my life Brie. I've already faced the possibility of you being completely gone from my life before. It was torture. I was sick to my stomach. My world was utterly gray. I can't go through that again, especially because of other people. They have nothing to do with us."

"But they do if they are going to hurt you Troy," Gabriella argued, swallowing against the warm emotions he was calling forth with his tenderness.

"Maybe that would be my penance for how much I hurt you."

Troy's soft words almost broke Gabriella but she held herself back. "Troy, we have to move on from what has happened in the last few weeks. It's going to take time for me but I don't want you dangling your own feet over the fire when I'm not doing it myself. If anyone got to do that it would be me but I don't want that. We both have to let go of the past otherwise we'll never make it as friends."

Feeling as if he really was blessed by an angel to have Gabriella speak this way to him, Troy allowed himself to softly kiss her on the forehead. "Thank you Angel. I don't deserve this, or you, but thank you."

Gabriella gave him a small smile. "Don't worry CP. You aren't totally off the hook yet anyway, so I may be calling in a few favors for you to do for me."

Chuckling as he heard her joke, Troy smiled back. "Whatever you want. Sky is the limit where you are concerned. I've got to say, I'm impressed with the way you stuck up for yourself against Whitland. He deserves more of that. I can't believe he made it through initiation. Honestly, I can't tell you how much it pained me to swear him in during the ceremony."

"With a jerk like that, I could imagine," Ryan threw in, drawing Troy's attention away from Gabriella for the first time to see Sharpay's twin there with his girlfriend and the other brunette. "Sorry, just had to throw my two cents in there."

"No, you're completely right," Troy replied, dropping his hand from Gabriella back to his side. "Sorry, hi everyone! Didn't mean to be rude there."

Kelsi gave him a sweet smile, feeling in her gut why Gabriella had allowed Troy back into her life so much sooner than she and Ryan had originally expected. "I think we all understand why you didn't Troy. Just glad you helped put that guy in his place."

"Who was he anyway?" asked the brunette. "Oh, I'm Martha by the way!"

Troy readily shook her hand as he and Gabriella sat down, giving her his best smile. "I'm Troy and that idiot is one of the newest members of Zeta Theta Mu, I'm sad to admit."

"So you're a part of the Greek system huh?"

"Yup," Troy replied, smiling more as he realized that Martha blessedly didn't seem to know who Troy was to Greek Row, but more importantly didn't seem to know his part in driving Gabriella out of there.

Sensing Troy's curiosity, Gabriella volunteered, "Martha was good enough to let me and Zeke rent out rooms with her for the rest of the school year."

"Oh," Troy replied automatically, pausing as his mind processed that Zeke and Gabriella were now living together, answering his curious question from before as to what had changed between the two. "Wait, you're living with Zeke now at her house or apartment?"

"House, and yes," Gabriella answered, tilting her head a little as she watched Troy absorb it all in. "It made the most sense actually."

"Yeah, I can see that. Just caught me by surprise although I don't know why I didn't think of you two doing that together earlier." Troy caught Gabriella's look and forced a smile on his lips. "I'm glad you two have each other. I still hate the fact that happened to Zeke, getting punished like that. I spoke out against it but, despite what Tyler seems to think, being president doesn't give me special treatment unlike the way it seems to be happening at Kappa Phi Sigma these days."

"Don't even get me started on that. I'm just glad I'm out of there."

"Why? So you can go and rat us out to Campus Life?" an all too familiar voice demanded from nearby. "I've just come back from there and I want to know what the hell you told them that could get us in this much trouble!"

Troy swore, about ready to jump to Gabriella's defense but reigned himself back at the last second as he saw for the second time in the day Gabriella stand up on her own two feet.

"Not that I owe you anything but what are you talking about Nicole?" Gabriella watched as Nicole's eyes narrowed even more on her after her question. "Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about," Nicole mimicked, rolling her eyes. "You damn well know for a fact what I'm talking about! How else could I have been called into a meeting at Campus Life to meet with Rick? Specifically to talk about your departure from Kappa Phi Sigma and the issue of your nude picture. Who else would have ratted us out? No one except you because you're just that way, a little bitch."

"I'm sorry Nicole but I do believe you're looking into a mirror right now because the only bitch I see here is you. Believe it or not but I had absolutely nothing to do with your Campus Life visit. In fact, I didn't even remember the name Rick and his possible association with Campus Life until just now, remembering he's in charge of Greek Life and the affairs on Greek Row. I haven't the faintest about that meeting."

"Then why the hell is Kappa Phi Sigma now on probation and the National Office notified of our supposed outrageous behavior? Shit like this never gets escalated to Campus Life unless someone makes a formal complaint and I know for a fact that the only sister that would have done this is you."

Gabriella didn't flinch as Nicole jabbed a finger into her chest, finding it a reason only to glare back at the other female. "Hate to break it to you but you clearly are disillusioned. It wasn't me which means that either it was a sister in or out of Kappa Phi Sigma or even brother of a frat. Those complaints aren't reserved to just people in the sorority I bet. As much as you think you're so untouchable you really aren't Nicole and neither is Kappa Phi Sigma. This probation was a long time coming."

"So you admit it!" Nicole exclaimed. "You did file a complaint."

"I didn't. I'm just saying it's not much of a surprise," Gabriella countered. "This is only the latest crap you've done. How does it feel Nicole? Being the reason for Kappa Phi Sigma to be on probation under your last few weeks of being president? I may not have proof that it was you who photoshopped that picture of me but my gut tells me it was primarily you even if the rest of the house is silent about it. I know for a fact that you plotted against me at the start of the year. Tell me Nicole, really, how in the world was I that big of a threat to you? There's no reason for it!"

Gabriella couldn't have given Troy a better prompt to step in, tired of letting Nicole battle with Gabriella despite Gabriella being able to stand up on her own. "You're a threat to Nicole because she could never be half as talented, beautiful, respected and especially warm hearted as you Gabriella and Nicole knows it. It's quite sad actually. Nicole seems to be trying her damndest to be exactly like you."

"Oh please, as if I really would want to be a loser like her. Now I know for sure Troy that you've gotten lost along the way of this semester. I have so much more than Gabriella has to offer and you know what some of that is already," Nicole replied, smirking at Troy as she knew his mind was recalling the number of times they had slept together as was her intention. "Gabriella will never satisfy your sexual hunger the way that I can, hell the way any other woman you've slept with countless times has. She's a prude and will always be a prude."

"Damn, is this girl serious?" murmured Martha to Kelsi as she heard the latest exchange.

Kelsi sighed, nodding. "Unfortunately yes. I'm so glad Gabriella left Greek Row."

Both girls went back to watching the three's heated exchange when Gabriella countered Nicole's attack. "Maybe I am easy to blush when sex comes up in a conversation and maybe I don't want to give away my virginity like it's nothing. Maybe I do cherish something I can only give up once in my life and want it to be with the right man. What I choose to do with my life and my body is my own decision Nicole and I know for sure that it's not in my nature to do anything as stupid as those nude pictures you forged."

"So you admit it, you are a prude!"

"If that makes you sleep better then yes, I am standing here, in the middle of the courtyard declaring to everyone that I am a prude! I'd rather be a prude though than a conniving and devious girl who has no self-worth to respect herself and tries to assure her popularity with the guys on Greek Row by sleeping with every single one of them. Whatever you and Troy have going on is your business but I have to tell you Nicole, I am far happier being free of your clutches for just a few days than I have ever been living in that house with you."

Nicole stood there shocked as she received the latest of Gabriella's verbal attacks, so unused to the usually mousey girl actually sparring with her, showing that Gabriella had a real and definite backbone after all. "Trust me, the house is better without you."

"Fine, so we agree. Things are better now as they are, for the house and me. There's nothing else though that is keeping you here talking to me so why don't you get lost?"

Kelsi, Martha, and Ryan snickered at Gabriella's strong dismissal of Gabriella's own personal torturer on Greek Row. Troy though just grinned, enjoying the shocked look on Nicole's face and couldn't help but throw his own two cents in. "Yeah Nicole, why don't you get the hell out of here? I told you before break that I didn't want you near me or Gabriella here ever again. You sure as hell don't listen to warnings all that well do you?"

"Please Troy, like you could fucking do anything to me. I was willing to overlook your lapse of judgment before break but to hear your declaration of falling in love with the dweeb was too much. You're nothing to me now."

Troy heard Gabriella's gasp as Nicole exposed the words and declaration Troy had made at another frat's party before he had gone home to Albuquerque the next day. "Good because you were nothing to me far before that. Why don't you go and get lost like Gabriella here suggested? We're clearly tainting your precious, perfect air."

Nicole just shook her head before turning to storm away, being the second person in the span of minutes who parted groups of students on one of the paths out of the courtyard as she stormed away, seething with anger at having been dismissed by Troy and Gabriella both as if Nicole was a nobody.

Troy had already told Gabriella himself how he felt about her, and he knew that Gabriella was already aware that he was falling for her. However, Troy still he felt like he needed to say something since the news of what he had confessed to people at the party would be new knowledge to her. "Gabriella…"

"Did you really tell Nicole that you were falling in love with me, in the middle of a Greek party?"

"Umm, yeah?" Troy nervously rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of how this would go over with Gabriella. "The words just slipped out, but could be no truer. I may accept us being friends right now Gabriella but I really do love you."

Not knowing what else to do, Gabriella nodded her head, words failing her as to what she should really be doing right now with this new information. Part of her was pleased that Troy really meant his declaration and said it for everyone to hear but a part of her couldn't help but wonder what really brought upon his words.

Seeing Gabriella try to make sense of everything now, Troy knew it was now his place to leave, not wanting to push or force Gabriella to say anything in response. "I guess I'll be going now. We should probably meet about our project this week outside of class. I have a great idea to make sure it's a stellar A+ and have already started planning it out but I want your blessing on it along with Zeke's. Maybe Tuesday after practice and your work since we have intense practices and an away game between Tuesday and our first home game?"

"Sure," Gabriella agreed. "Good luck on your first game of the season."

Troy's lips curved upwards hearing her good wishes. "Thanks, I think we'll need it. Out of curiosity though, will you be at our first home game on Saturday? You know, to support Zeke and all?"

Gabriella smiled at Troy's choice of wording. "I was planning on going with Sharpay and Taylor to support the team, including you Troy. Better get in shape. I'd hate for you to lose the first home game since this campus has been abuzz about it since before break."

"Ouch, you wound me with your accusation that I'm a no good lazy frat boy who sits around drinking beer all the time!" Troy held his hand over his heart and comically staggered back.

"You forgot having endless lap dances while you sit there drinking your beer," Gabriella added, giggling as Troy made a face at her. "Sorry, had to throw it in!"

"Mock me now Angel but I'll show you what I really can do on my home turf," Troy vowed, picking up Gabriella's right hand on impulse and kissing it before letting it go. "See you later Brie. It was nice seeing you again Ryan and Kelsi and nice meeting you Martha. I'm sure I'll see you all later."

With a wave, Troy turned around and casually walked away, leaving Gabriella staring at his retreating form.

"Man Gabriella, he's a charmer! There's clearly history I don't know, but he's hot and so sincere about his feelings for you. He's a keeper!" Martha exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement for her new roommate.

True, Martha didn't know everything that had recently happened to Gabriella and Greek Row, especially with Troy, nor Gabriella's history with Troy, but Gabriella couldn't help but agree that Troy was clearly being sincere in everything he said to her as of late. In all honesty, if everything that happened around the plan Nicole hatched that Troy participated in hadn't occurred, Gabriella knew she'd agree in a heartbeat that Troy was a keeper. Instead, for now, she was settled with the knowledge that they were both truly trying to work everything out between them and seemed to be getting to a place where there may not be absolute forgiveness on her part, but it was a place Gabriella knew she could learn to move on from with Troy. It was a place of true friendship and reborn trust. It was a place where she hoped there would only be growth upward that would lead to bigger and better things.


	25. Chapter 25

**Co-Written with cj10824**

Chapter 25

Troy stopped outside of the doorway, a basketball under one arm as he leaned against the door frame, silently watching the girl inside who was not remotely aware of his presence. Her eyes darted back and forth across the page before jotting down a few notes in her notebook. Troy smiled at her focused look, watching as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and placed the end of her pen in her mouth.

"Big test coming up?"

Troy smiled as Gabriella gasped in shock, not suspecting him there, before her eyes connected with his and a small grin took over her features.

"Just getting ready for finals," Gabriella told him, setting her pen down as she spun around in her seat to face Troy, who had now stepped further into the room, leaning up against the counter across from her desk.

"Finals, already? Those are still a couple of weeks away."

"Yeah, well I like to get started early."

"And there's the difference between you and me," Troy teased with a smile. "I bet you were a straight A student all throughout elementary, junior high, and high school, huh?"

"No, I got a B once."

"Once," Troy teased, loving the blush that was making its way onto her cheeks.

"Yes, once," Gabriella repeated, grinning as well. "It was in cooking class in high school. It's not my fault Mrs. Jackson bumped into me and ended up with a chocolate cake plastered to her face," Gabriella finished explaining, her story causing Troy to erupt in fits of laughter.

"Shut up," Gabriella reprimanded, standing up and walking over to Troy, smacking him on his shoulder. "It's not that funny."

"Oh, it is though," Troy managed to gasp out through his laughter, laughing more as Gabriella shoved him. "Sorry, I'll stop," Troy continued to laugh, holding his hands up in surrender.

"You don't sound like you're stopping," Gabriella teased back, failing as she tried to hide her playful smile.

"I am, I swear," Troy cleared his throat, hiding his laughter. "You know, with your academic record, it looks like I'm pretty lucky to end up in your group for class. Although, that's not the only reason I'm lucky to be in your group," Troy charmed, his hand gently gripping her waist as he whispered the last part in her ear.

"And the old player Troy is back," Gabriella joked, pushing him away.

"You know you love it Angel," Troy winked at her, enjoying their playful banter.

"What are you doing in here anyways? Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for practice?"

Troy stepped back to the counter, hoisting himself up on it to sit down, his legs dangling off the edge, as Gabriella sat on the desk across from him. "I am ready for practice. And since it doesn't start for a bit, I figured I'd come save my _friend_ from her boring job."

Gabriella smiled at his mention of them being friends. She knew that he wanted more than that, but she was happy that he was embracing their friendship and not pushing her to the side because she didn't want more.

"My job is not that boring. I do get my homework done."

"Puh-lease Gabriella," Troy rolled his eyes, hopping down from the counter and reaching behind her on the desk while grabbing her book. "Please tell me how," Troy paused and held up the book in front of her, "_Business Principles and Management_ is not boring. This is the definition of boring. Who reads the textbooks anyways?"

"People who want to get A's," Gabriella quipped back, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Whatever," Troy laughed, placing the book down and picking up the basketball that had been laying forgotten on the ground. "Come on."

Gabriella raised her eyebrows at him. "Where am I going?"

"_We_ are going to go play ball."

"Why would I go play basketball with you?"

"Because," Troy began, placing the ball under one arm while placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her towards the door, "you are dying to do something not so boring."

"But Troy, I have to be in the office in case someone calls."

Troy chuckled, pushing her out of the office before closing the door behind them. "Nice try Gabriella, but we both know that is a weak excuse. When's the last time you got a call in here?"

Troy watched as she got a pensive look on her face, racking her brain to come up with an answer. "And that proves my point," Troy laughed as she'd yet to come up with an answer. "Let's go."

Leading her out to the basketball court, Troy walked to the top of the key with her close behind, before turning around and tossing her the ball.

"So when do you get off work?"

"A half-hour," Gabriella responded, facing the hoop and taking her shot.

"Nice," Troy praised her as the ball sailed through. "Nice form too…looks like you remember what I taught you, huh?" Troy smirked, earning an amused roll of the eyes from Gabriella.

"Ah yes, I remember that day…that was the day you made an inappropriate comment and I chucked the ball at your gut," Gabriella grinned slyly, the two comfortable chatting about the time early on when Gabriella was always dodging Troy.

"Yeah, you did," Troy chuckled, dribbling the ball a couple of times before taking a shot. "That hurt too by the way. A few inches lower and you could have done some real damage Montez."

"Well if you had quicker reflexes Bolton, that wouldn't have hit you at all," Gabriella teased back as she grabbed the rebound.

Troy dropped his jaw playfully, his eyes on Gabriella as she smirked while making another shot. "See? Isn't this so much more fun than just sitting in there doing homework? I mean, now you have basketball and good company."

"Good company? You?"

Troy rolled his eyes at her teasing, walking over to her after grabbing the ball, nudging her shoulder playfully with his. "Shut up Montez."

Gabriella smiled back at him, nudging him back before watching as he took another shot. She still wasn't completely ready for more with Troy, but she couldn't help but listen to the small voice in her head that was telling her that the Troy she was attracted to all along was still there, and maybe one day the two could move forward into a relationship.

* * *

After getting back to her new place once she finished work, Gabriella quickly showered and got dressed before driving to meet Sharpay and Taylor for dinner. As the three sat down, they easily jumped right into their first conversation since coming back from break.

"Sorry I'm a little late," Gabriella apologized as she sat down at the table. "I was a little sweaty from playing basketball so I had to take a shower first."

"You were playing basketball? With who?" Sharpay questioned curiously.

Gabriella groaned to herself, having a feeling she was going to get teased. "Troy," she said softly, her head dropping so she wouldn't see their reactions.

"Troy, huh?" Sharpay asked, raising her eyebrows at Gabriella. "Speaking of Troy, you have some information to share. Don't think we weren't going to talk about the closeness I saw between the two of you at the game last week. What was that all about?"

Gabriella blushed a little, embarrassed at all the attention being on her and Troy. "I was just helping him out."

"Who was the girl talking to you two?" Taylor asked, joining in.

"That was his ex, Monica."

Sharpay choked on her drink at Gabriella's words, taking a few moments to catch her breath. "You kissed him? In front of his ex?"

"You saw that?"

"Of course I did, I see all Gabriella," Sharpay joked before turning serious. "Now spill. I never thought of you as the type to mark your territory like that."

Gabriella blushed even more. "I wasn't marking my territory."

"Sure you weren't," Sharpay said with a playful roll of her eyes.

"I wasn't! I was just helping him out. He looked uncomfortable, and I knew he didn't want to talk to her, so I thought as a _friend_, I'd help him show her that he'd moved on."

"They have a bad break-up?" Taylor asked.

"Yeah, from what I hear, things were really bad. I don't want to go into it really, but I knew Troy didn't want her around. I just helped him get that extra strength he needed to show her he'd moved on from her to help him also find the closure he needed."

"And show her that she can't have him because he's taken," Sharpay added with a wink towards Gabriella.

"Are you okay after all of that?" Taylor jumped in, saving Gabriella from having to respond to Sharpay's last comment.

"Yeah, I explained to him why I did it, and that I was just helping him as a friend. He knows what I was doing, and he thanked me for helping him out."

"He's okay with just being friends?"

"He seems to be. I mean, he has his moments where his playful, flirty self comes out," Gabriella smiled a bit, thinking back to their banter earlier in the day. "But he seems to be okay with where things are right now."

Sharpay smiled up at Gabriella, noticing her content tone of voice. "We're happy for you Gabi. You were really down after everything, which is understandable. From what we hear though, Troy was too. This is good for both of you, just getting back to being friends."

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled genuinely at both of them.

Taylor smiled back, but noticed Gabriella's slight discomfort with the subject at hand. "So Gabs, how's the new place?"

"It's awesome. Actually, much better than living on Greek Row ever was. The only thing I miss is living with you guys."

"Well you'd better," Sharpay playfully warned her, taking a second to glance up from her menu.

Taylor shook her head at Sharpay before turning back to Gabriella. "No problems living with Martha?"

"None at all. She's been great so far. You and Chad should come over and meet her and check the place out," Gabriella told Taylor as the two joined Sharpay in looking over their menus.

"Sharpay's already been over?"

"Are you kidding me? She was there the first night she got back from Albuquerque. I think her squeal when she saw Zeke scared Martha a bit."

"Shut up, I did not squeal that loudly," Sharpay jumped in defensively.

"My ears beg to differ," Gabriella shot back, earning a glare from Sharpay. "So how are things with you? How are things in the house now that I'm gone?"

Taylor shook her head, thinking about the tension that had grown in the past few days. "Well Nicole's on even more of a rampage since you left."

"Really?"

Sharpay nodded emphatically. "Yeah, a lot of the girls are pissed off at her because they are fed up with how she's been acting lately since being on probation."

"Even though she's not eligible to run for any offices since she's graduating, if she were, she'd never get voted in as president or anything else with the way she's been acting. If there was more time before elections, it's possible we all would have decided to remove her from office for the rest of the year. Like Shar said, people are really getting fed up."

"Wow," Gabriella sighed, taking a sip of her drink. "I thought things were going to be bad for the two of you, but I didn't think everyone else would be having problems with her too."

"People are seeing what a conniving, ugly bitch she really is," Sharpay said, without a second thought, glancing at Taylor and Gabriella with an innocent look while they looked back at her with eyebrows raised. "What? Come on, you know you two were thinking it. I speak my mind, sue me."

Gabriella and Taylor both laughed at their friend, stopping as the waiter came to take their order before the three fell into easy conversation, thankful to be able to hang out together without the drama that surrounded them back at campus.

* * *

Later that night, Zeke, Troy, and Gabriella found themselves sitting in the family room of Gabriella and Zeke's new place as they discussed the remainder of their group project.

"Alright Troy, so what's this stellar idea you had?" Gabriella asked, remembering how excited he was earlier when he mentioned it to her.

Troy smiled at her, debating on whether or not he'd flirt a bit and tease her, running with her question, but decided against it as his eyes met Zeke's who was sitting across from him. Things were getting better between the two, but he still didn't want to test it.

"Okay, so my idea," Troy pulled out his notebook, flipping through it before pulling out a piece of paper, holding it to his chest so they didn't see it yet. "Now I kind of already started planning this, but I wanted to run it by you two first before I went any further."

Troy took a deep breath, noting their curious faces before flipping the piece of paper over and setting it face up on the coffee table. He watched as Zeke and Gabriella scooted closer to the table from their places on the couch, the two reading over the paper.

"It's a flier, for a concert."

"At Starlight?" Gabriella asked, noticing the name of the club they had all visited earlier that semester, the same club outside of which Troy and Gabriella had shared their first kiss.

"Yeah," Troy answered softly, his gaze making Gabriella blush lightly as they both recalled that night.

"This says live music?" Zeke asked, breaking the two out of their gaze.

"Yeah, I was thinking we could hire a live band for the first half of the night, then we could have a DJ for the rest of the night. Anyways, we'd rent out Starlight and charge for admission, the profits going to the fraternity for our philanthropy. We put our semester long project to the test, showing how right we have been with our observations and business plan, and also save Zeta Theta Mu from certain campus and National probation for not doing our share for our philanthropy this semester. Killing two birds with one stone!" Troy beamed, feeling rather satisfied with himself.

Gabriella's jaw dropped as she began to tune Troy out as her eyes caught site of a date at the bottom of the flier. "Next Thursday?"

"Well yeah," Troy replied, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "The project is due on our scheduled final day, so if we're going to do it, we need to get it done now."

"That's a little over a week…we can do it. We just need to book the club, get a band, print out a bunch of fliers and spread the word, hire a DJ, and get some extra help for admission and stuff," Zeke spoke up, taking a deep breath when he finished as he realized just how much work they had to do.

"Don't worry about it, I've got most of that covered already."

Gabriella glanced at Troy in disbelief, surprised he'd put so much thought and effort into this already. "Really?"

Troy nodded. "I booked Starlight for us for the evening, I've got my connections there, don't look so shocked Gabriella, and I have this demo flier for us. I'm working on the DJ and band still, but as far as the extra help, since the profits can go to the frat, we can get the brothers to help out that night so it's a legitimate Zeta Theta Mu event."

"Wow, impressive. And here I thought you didn't care about the project at all," Gabriella teased, earning a grin from Troy. "Although, no offense, but can we really count on the brothers of Zeta Theta Mu to really help us pull this off?"

"Yeah, damn Troy," Zeke added, shaking his head in disbelief. "Looks like you've thought this through pretty well. Don't worry about the brothers Gabs. They'll be on their best behavior at least for the first half of the event because they know this philanthropy event is key to the rest of the scholastic year unless we want to end up like a certain sorority…"

"Exactly Zeke! Figured I should contribute at some point," Troy shrugged, earning a giggle from Gabriella which prompted him to send her a smile.

"So now we mainly need to figure out a DJ and a band," Zeke commented as he brought their attention back to brainstorming about their project.

Troy nodded, focusing once more. "I've been in contact with a guy at school, who I think is willing to DJ for a minimal cost if I hook him up with some of my other contacts. He said he'd get back to me by tomorrow night."

"And the band?"

"Still working on that. I thought it'd be good to find a band around school, maybe one not too popular, since they'd cost more money to book plus this could really help boost a band's popularity."

Gabriella glanced over at Zeke, the two smiling and silently communicating as they realized they were thinking the same thing.

"What?" Troy asked, seeing the silent conversation.

"You remember Martha?" Gabriella asked, her and Zeke now standing up from their seats, Troy following.

"Yeah, your other roommate I met the other day."

Gabriella nodded. "Okay well, she is actually in a band. And they are about to start practicing for the night in just a few minutes."

"You guys think they'd be up for playing?"

"Wouldn't hurt to ask," Zeke added. "Come on, give them a listen and we can discuss it."

Troy followed Gabriella and Zeke as they walked through the family room and headed down the hall towards the garage, the music Troy had heard faintly from earlier getting louder. Gabriella pushed open the door, ushering the two guys through, waving slightly to Martha who looked up at them, before the three leaned up against the wall in the corner.

After listening to a couple of songs, the three headed back into the family room to talk more about the project and make their decision about the band.

"They sounded pretty awesome! I think that type of sound will work for Starlight, what do you two think?" Troy asked, excited that maybe they'd found a band and things were coming together even more than he had originally thought.

"I think it would work too," Zeke agreed as they sat down. "And we know Martha and the band would probably be stoked to have a gig like that…plus they wouldn't need too much pay in exchange for the exposure as you pointed out."

Gabriella nodded in agreement, voicing her opinion. "Yeah, she was just telling us the other night how they are looking for more gigs. This might work perfectly."

"Awesome! Can you guys ask her?"

"Sure! We'll ask her tonight after her practice is done," Gabriella volunteered, much to Troy's excitement.

"Perfect and I'll work on getting that DJ plus make sure we have enough brothers helping out," Troy told them, while picking up his flier and going to place it in his notebook. "Oh, and if Martha does agree, let me know and I can spice up the flier a bit with their band name and all. We can then print a bunch out this week and post them around school, even get our friends and the brothers to help with word of mouth, yet another part of our business plan. Before you say anything Zeke, I'll make sure the brothers are cool having you at an event even if you aren't supposed to be. This is our project first and if they can't deal, then Zeta Theta Mu gets suspended. Simple as that."

"Thanks Troy, you read my mind. Alright, well I need to get upstairs and finish an assignment before calling Sharpay," Zeke said as he stood up, sending Troy a glare as Troy made a whipping sound.

Troy laughed, raising his hands defensively, unable to fight off his grin as he heard Gabriella's laughter.

"Go call your girlfriend Zeke. I don't want her calling me to yell about you," Gabriella laughed, shoving his shoulder gently.

"Alright, alright, I'm going. Later Troy," Zeke waved, gathering his books and darting up the stairs.

After a few moments of neither saying anything, Troy looked up, his eyes meeting Gabriella's as the two shared a shy smile. "I guess I'd better get going too. Leave you to all that intense finals studying."

"Shut up CP," Gabriella laughed, nudging his shoulder with hers as he gathered his books, walking towards the front door.

As they reached the door, Troy paused, turning to look at Gabriella.

"Thanks for planning all of this out for the project, Troy. You really surprised me with how much you've thought it through."

"Well, just because I've gotten a few B's in my academic career, doesn't mean I don't care about this project," Troy teased. "Besides, I have to hold my own in this project and contribute. Can't have your near perfect record blemished."

"Are you ever going to let that go?" Gabriella sighed jokingly.

"Hmmm," Troy paused, looking pensive as he rubbed his chin before he broke into a smile. "Nope."

"Great," Gabriella giggled, Troy joining in her laughter. "Well I'll let you know what Martha says tomorrow, does that work?"

"Sure," Troy smiled, opening up the door, pausing as he placed one hand on Gabriella's waist while he leaned down to brush his lips softly against her cheek. "Night Angel."

"Night CP."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Fidgeting in her seat, Gabriella shifted yet again while both Rick Amos, the Greek Life advisor at the Campus Life office, and Margot Chase, the head of the Kappa Phi Sigma, Iota Lambda chapter alumni advisory council, gazed at Gabriella with not so subtle looks. As much as she knew she hadn't ratted on the Kappa Phi Sigma sisters to get them put on probation, Gabriella felt like Margot still was silently accusing her of it as she watched Gabriella suffer which made Gabriella a bit uncomfortable.

"Rick, as much as I respect you and your time as well as Ms. Chase's, I have to ask what it is that you requested me here for. I am supposed to be covering for someone in about an hour at work," Gabriella stated, deciding to be the first to try to get the conversation rolling to end this misery.

"Well Margot and I both appreciate you giving us the opportunity to speak with you Gabriella. I believe Margot has a few things she would like to say and ask. Margot?" Rick leaned back in his chair as he sat back to let Margot have the floor to talk from her chair next to Gabriella's.

Margot cleared her throat before she looked back on the brunette. "Well, as you know Gabriella, the Iota Lambda chapter has been put on probation by Campus Life for the prank that was pulled on you. It was certainly immature and is nothing the advisory council or Nationals are proud of. We would like for you to consider voiding your drop letter."

"Void my drop letter? Why?" Gabriella asked, realizing once the words passed her lips that it was a bit dumb of her to ask but she couldn't help it. She felt completely floored.

"Well, to be rather frank, we would like to see you rejoin the Iota Lambda chapter and become a Kappa Phi Sigma sister again. We'll act as if this never happened, that you never dropped. It is your senior year technically Gabriella. Do you really want to miss out on all the opportunities that being a Kappa Phi Sigma sister can afford you?"

Without even having to think about it, Gabriella let it be known that becoming active again was not an option for her. "I apologize for wasting your time Ms. Chase but I will not be voiding my drop letter. I may not have filed a complaint with Campus Life against the chapter but I'm of right mind to know that I would not voluntarily choose to live that life again."

Margot scoffed, suppressing the need to roll her eyes at such a statement. "You talk as if you didn't spend at least a few years of your college life there on Greek Row with the sisters. There must have been a great deal of enjoyment for you to have kept you there for so long."

"Well, you are right Ms. Chase but may I ask you a question?"

"Certainly."

"Exactly when did you become aware that I was even a sister and not just some girl who hung around with Taylor and Sharpay?"

Margot blinked. "What type of question is that?"

Rick held back a chuckle as he realized what Gabriella was getting at, having even more respect for the young woman as she held her own against the head of the advisory council for her former sorority.

"Please, just answer me. Did you ever notice me as an actual sister until just a few weeks or even days ago?" As Margot seemed to fight to try to think back on her earliest memory of Gabriella, Gabriella herself watched it all unfold knowing that her point would be shortly proven. "I don't think you did, just as every other sister and person on Greek Row saw me without really seeing me. All my good times on Greek Row, as a Kappa Phi Sigma sister, was thanks to Zeke Baylor of Zeta Theta Mu, Sharpay and Taylor who you know, and recently Troy Bolton of Zeta Theta Mu as well. Take away those four people and I would have probably dropped much sooner."

"Was it really as bad as you make it seem Gabriella?" Rick had tried to stay out of this conversation, having agreed to host the meeting to be a neutral party between Margot and Gabriella, but he was now more than curious. "Did you have that tough of a time even before the photo shopped picture?"

Gabriella spared Margot a glance before she looked back at Rick and reluctantly nodded her head. "It was a bit tough at times but I got used to being the invisible Kappa Phi Sigma sister. I had my close friends and a nice place to stay. I loved doing the philanthropy projects but just wasn't so into the social scene. Perhaps the whole picture prank was meant to happen so I would leave and really enjoy my last semester plus of my college career."

Before Gabriella could spill anymore to the Greek Life advisor, Margot decided to end the meeting, seeing no use in wasting any more of her time. "Well, I can see that this is a definite end to the relationship you have with Kappa Phi Sigma. I'm sorry to see it come to this but it seems that you've made up your mind."

Nodding, Gabriella stood up after glancing at her watch, calculating that she had enough time to grab lunch and take it to the gym to catch maybe the start of the men's basketball team's practice before work. "Thank you for your time Ms. Chase and it was nice to see you Rick. As much as I'm calm right now though Ms. Chase, I'd like you to know that what happened to me did damage me quite a bit but not enough to kill my will to finish my college career off strong here. I'd like to think that I've grown stronger because of it though and I wouldn't change a thing that has happened to me as a Kappa Phi Sigma sister for it."

With that, Gabriella turned and left the room, leaving an annoyed Margot and an overly impressed Rick who made some quick notes in the file open about this situation before he gave Margot his undivided attention to finish other matters in regards to Kappa Phi Sigma's probation on campus.

* * *

Troy, Zeke, Chad, and Jason were all walking across the quad to head to the gym when they spotted Gabriella leaving the building where they knew Campus Life was located, not looking very happy.

"Shit, what happened now?" Troy asked, not liking the fact that she had been there by herself knowing full well that any number of things could happen in that office.

"I don't know man but I'm going to find out. Gabs looks pissed," Zeke replied, picking up his pace and changing directions with Troy close behind him, leaving Jason and Chad to follow. "Gabs! Gabriella!"

Gabriella glanced over at hearing her name called and groaned as she saw the four guys advancing on her. She had absolutely nothing against any of them, well not really, but after such a stupid meeting as she had just been in, in all honesty Gabriella was more than irritated but she tried to hide it as she stopped walking and waited for them to catch up. "Hey guys. How's it going?"

Zeke heard the false cheer and shook his head. "We're going to practice but what's up with you? Campus Life didn't pull some stupid random crap or something on you did they? Nicole isn't causing trouble for you is she?"

"Or Tyler?" Troy threw in, knowing that there were two people he was worried about hurting Gabriella.

"No, nothing has happened, at least by the hands of either of those people," Gabriella answered. "I just, argh! They must think so little of me to think I would have gone for their proposal!" Chad and Jason both took an involuntary step back at her outburst which Gabriella noticed. "I'm sorry guys I just, this is just so belittling!"

Chad shook his head, his eyebrow furrowing. "What are you talking about Gabriella? What happened?"

"Oh, you'll get a laugh out of this. The advisory council of Kappa Phi Sigma seemed to think that the doctored photograph incident is so small that I'd jump at the chance to rejoin that stupid sorority and chapter if they took me back. Hello! I didn't ask to be taken back!" Gabriella huffed, letting out a small scream of frustration. "Sorry, again. I just, ugh!"

Zeke was quick to grab Gabriella's hands, holding it in his as she met his gaze. "Hey, there's nothing to be sorry about. I'd be beyond pissed off if the advisory council just waved off everything I've gone through as nothing and you went through a hell of a lot more."

Although Zeke's words were meant to lend sympathy to Gabriella, Troy felt guilt eat at him as he knew he was a big part of what Gabriella went through this semester. "Angel, I'm sorry."

Gabriella turned her attention to Troy but shook her head, surprising all four guys. "You don't have anything to be sorry for Troy. It's done, it's over, and you recognize what happened was significant. What I'm pissed about is that it was just referred to in there as some stupid and shameful prank but 'hey, come rejoin and we'll pretend it didn't happen'! Yeah right!"

Glancing at Zeke, Troy wrapped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders while Zeke ran his thumbs over the tops of Gabriella's hands in a soothing manner. "Gabs, where are you headed now? You shouldn't be alone right now."

"Got work," Gabriella answered. "I'll be fine, honest. I just need to relax and forget this stupid meeting never happened. God, to think I really did spend literally years as a part of that organization! What a bunch of crap!"

"What time is your work?" Troy asked, looking at his watch and knowing that they had about forty minutes before practice on the courts started. "Don't you also not work on Fridays?"

"Usually I don't but I was asked to pick up a shift. I start in about forty minutes, why?"

"Well, we were headed to the weight room to lift some quick weights before practice since it got pushed back a little. Why don't you work out with us?"

Gabriella stared at Troy as if he had spoken to her in Latin instead of English. "Come again? I need to grab lunch and study, not work out in the weight room. I don't have gym clothes either."

"I've got a spare shirt and shorts in my bag," Troy offered, getting an idea as to how to help. "I promise they are clean and although they may be big on you, they'll cover what they need to."

"Is that the solution to my problem right now? To work out?"

Zeke shot Troy a quizzical look but got a returned look that told Zeke to just follow along. "Well, Gabs, it does kinda make sense with your frustration right now. Channel that energy out and everything."

"And what about lunch?"

"I'll get it for you! Am feeling a bit sore from yesterday's practice anyway, you'll save me from having to overdo it. Instead of your normal salad, what about some comfort food?"

"Comfort food?"

Jason brightened at the idea of comfort food, knowing exactly what Zeke was talking about. "Yeah, grease! You know what Gabriella could really use, a Philly cheese steak wrap with fries! Actually I want one too, I'll go with you Zeke."

"Good, then it's settled. Come on Gabriella, we're going to go help you get rid of some of this stress and frustration in a healthy manner," Troy announced, grinning down at her and thinking to himself how adorable Gabriella appeared just then with her confused expression. "Chad will help too, he'll be the punching bag."

"Whoa, Hoops! The punching bag?" Chad sputtered. "Gabi is great and all but I don't know about being her personal punching bag."

"Don't worry Chad, it won't hurt, much," Troy replied with a smirk on his face. "Zeke and J, catch you guys in a few?"

"Sure man," Zeke agreed, hoping silently in his mind that whatever Troy had planned would go off well.

About fifteen minutes later, Gabriella was standing in Troy's spare gym clothes with her own socks and tennis shoes on her feet that she had on earlier, staring at a punching bag. "You want me to what?"

Troy chuckled from where he was standing next to her. "Since Chad is too soft to take your punches, he's going to hold the bag for you and I'm going to help you with your form. Do whatever comes to mind, through left or right hooks, kick the bag for all I care. Just channel every raw, negative emotion you feel into that bag. Don't worry if you miss and clip Chad either, he can at least handle that."

"Hey! Stop giving her ideas! Gabriella, you're lucky I like you as my girlfriend's best friend so much, that's all I'm going to say," Chad stated, placing his hands on either side of the bag to get it ready for the first punch. "I'm ready when you are."

Gabriella dragged in a deep breath and let it out, trying to find a way to rope all the bad energy coursing through her body together to push it out of her system and into the punching bag as Troy suggested. "How do I do this without hurting Chad and myself?"

"Here, let me help you." Troy walked a little way to step up behind Gabriella, placing his hands on her wrist and hands, standing right behind her at the same angle she was standing as she faced the punching bag. "Now what you're going to do is channel that advisory board or whoever you want it to be right on the surface of the bag. Let's try punching first. It's done just like this."

Gabriella tried to remain focused although Troy's nearness was more than distracting her. She did manage though to follow his movements as his hands guided hers towards the bag, showing her the right way to throw her punches in slow motion and then taking his hands off her hands and wrists to let Gabriella do it herself.

Once Gabriella got into a rhythm, she had little trouble imagining all the crappy things she had endured today and in the past few weeks and centered it all there on the punching bag, hitting and kicking it with all her might, seeing and hearing nothing else.

Her focus was so strong that Gabriella jumped about a little less than twenty minutes later when she felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder. When she spun around with her fists held up, Gabriella instantly dropped them when she saw Troy grinning back at her. "Feel better?" she heard him ask her.

"Yeah, that's amazing Troy! I'm still peeved but I'm not overrun by it," Gabriella explained, shaking out her arms and then glancing over her shoulder at Chad who now stepped out from behind the punching bag. "You okay Chad?"

Chad chuckled, nodding his head. "I am, you didn't actually touch me which was a good thing. I think Taylor would have used it as an excuse to actually land a few kicks or punches at me claiming to 'miss' the bag. You are pretty strong though Gabriella."

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment," she smiled, giving Chad a hug. "Thank you for being a good sport and helping me."

He returned the hug, smiling as they pulled away from each other. "You're one of my girlfriend's best friends and I just so happen to like you so it all works out."

"Hey, I hate to break up the moment but Gabriella if you want to be at work on time you need to get going. You have about six or seven minutes to get into that little office of yours," Troy interrupted, giving them an apologetic look. "Knowing Zeke he and J are probably over there waiting for you."

"Crap, I don't have much time. How am I going to change?" Gabriella asked, picking up her bag while Chad and Troy did the same and began walking with her out of the weight room.

"Hey, that's the perks with a gym job remember? You look like you fit right in and you can keep the gym clothes until end of day or whenever. I have tons of t-shirts and stuff," Troy explained, walking at Gabriella's quicker than normal pace.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, don't worry. Rather you focus on eating and then relaxing before studying while you get paid to answer phones that never ring Angel," Troy teased, earning a roll of the eyes from Gabriella.

When they arrived at the little office, sure enough Zeke was already there, covered paper plate and a Smart Water in his hands. "Feeling better Gabs?"

"More than better, thanks," Gabriella replied, taking the food from her best friend and putting it down in the office after saying a quick hello to the person she was replacing. "I guess you guys better go so you aren't late for practice."

Zeke nodded, giving Gabriella a quick hug. "We'll continue the stress relief tonight. Game of Guitar Hero?"

Gabriella laughed, nodding her head. "Sure Zeke. Have a good practice."

Chad and Zeke began walking away, stopping as they realized Troy wasn't with them, seeing Gabriella step towards Troy before initiating the hug and kissing Troy on the cheek.

"Thank you CP for being so quick to help me out this morning. It really helped and I feel tons better than I would have otherwise," Gabriella admitted, seeing the way her little gesture of kissing Troy's cheek replaced his grin from earlier with a smirk Gabriella was starting to find a bit more sexy than before. "I promise I'll wash these gym clothes before I give them back."

"Do whatever you like. All I know is that you look rather sexy in my clothes Angel." Troy winked at her and gave her one last grin before he turned to leave, turning around again to say one more thing. "Give me a call if you ever need to hit that punching bag again. I'll always be here for you."

Gabriella just smiled at him as she watched Troy walk away before ducking into the office to start her shift with just a minute to spare.

"Dude, you sly fox Troy! That's totally one of your favorite shirts _and_ it says Bolton on the back!" Chad exclaimed as soon as they were definitely out of earshot of Gabriella, clapping Troy on the shoulder. "Do you even think she realizes she has Bolton printed on her back right now?"

Troy shrugged, smirking a little as he thought about her reaction when she found out later. "Probably not but that wasn't the goal today, honest. It was sexy to see her have my name on her but I was more worried about her and her emotional and mental state. I let her get hurt before and I'm not going to let it happen again, at least without helping her back up."

Zeke listened to this short exchange and found himself smiling. He and Troy may be repairing their friendship but it helped Zeke to know that Troy really was trying now and that Troy really was doing it the right way this time, a sign that the genuine Troy in high school was definitely making a comeback.

* * *

"Come on Zeke, pick it up!" Gabriella exclaimed between the verses she was singing of _Beat It_ originally by Michael Jackson.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Zeke grumbled. "Who picked difficult anyway?"

"You!"

Their joined laughter made Martha smile as she walked into the room and leaned against the couch to watch as Gabriella and Zeke battled the advanced level of Guitar Hero: World Tour together with Zeke on the guitar and Gabriella singing. One thing that caught Martha's attention was the vocals coming out of her new roommate.

_They're out to get you, better leave while you can  
Don't wanna be a boy, you wanna be a man  
You wanna stay alive, better do what you can  
So beat it, just beat it_

_You have to show them that you're really not scared  
You're playin' with your life, this ain't no truth or dare  
They'll kick you, then they beat you,  
Then they'll tell you it's fair  
So beat it, but you wanna be bad_

_Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it  
No one wants to be defeated  
Showin' how funky and strong is your fight  
It doesn't matter who's wrong or right_

Martha smiled as she got an idea, watching Gabriella sing her heart out and really get into the song as she not only sang but also danced around. 'The girl is more than good!'

When Zeke and Gabriella finished, they beamed at each other before they high fived. "That was awesome Zeke! You really nailed it the second half!"

"As opposed to you who nailed it from the start. God Gabs, you could really sing for a living or something!" Zeke exclaimed, whirling around with Gabriella when they heard clapping from nearby to see Martha standing there clapping her hands. "Martha! God, we must sound like total amateur hour to you."

Martha laughed, shaking her head. "Thank you for the compliment of saying that I'm really good myself but I don't really think so. Besides, you two had fun and that's all that matters. Although, Gabriella, have you ever considered singing for a band?"

Gabriella's jaw dropped as she heard Martha's question. "What? No way! I'm nowhere good enough for that!"

"On the contrary. We've been working like mad to try to get our set list together for Thursday at Starlight and since you got us the gig, the both of you, I thought it would be nice for you to maybe join in for a song or sing one on your own with me as backup. It is your event Gabriella, your time to shine."

Zeke grinned as he heard his roommate's suggestion. "Gabs, you so should do it! You are amazing at singing, far better than any of those sorority girls, including my own girlfriend, trust me. It'll be another victory after today. Just one song, that's all!"

"But it's not _my_ night though Zeke. It's a school project experiment we're doing to try to get a better grade. If anything, it is _our_ night!" Gabriella protested, not liking the feeling of being cornered. "Besides, I have no interest in making myself look like a fool in front of all of Greek Row that will no doubt be there and have them all staring at me, analyzing if that stupid fake picture is me or not!"

"More reason why you should do it Gabs, honest. Let them wonder, let them speculate. You know that picture isn't you, you know most likely who did it, and you can show you won't let them get you down!"

As Martha slowly realized what they were talking about, she joined the discussion. "Gabriella, I know you never really told me about what happened but I overheard some people talking about it in the quad the other day."

"Oh great!" With her hands on her face, Gabriella shook her head as she groaned. "The entire campus is talking about my embarrassment!"

"Actually, no," Martha contradicted. "These two girls and two guys that were talking were talking about how much they respected you for walking away and being mature like that. People aren't dumb and can see a bad photo shopped picture and I may not have seen it, but they thought it was poorly done. I think you should do it. I'll give you our set list and let you take your pick. And, if it works out, we can definitely use another set of vocals."

Zeke turned his attention on his best friend who was now clasping her hands together in front of her, fidgeting as she tended to do when she was uneasy or nervous. "Gabriella, this is so your chance. We'll keep it a secret between the three of us for now, and Martha's band cause you have to rehearse, just in case you don't want to in the end. At least try it. This could be amazing! No, I know it will be."

After studying Martha's and Zeke's expression, Gabriella sighed. "Fine, I'll at least practice for it but no guarantees all right?"

"Yes!" both Zeke and Martha exclaimed.

"Come on Gabriella, let's get into the rehearsal room to start looking for your song!" Martha grabbed Gabriella's hand and dragged the smaller girl behind her down the hall to start working on Gabriella's introduction to the music world and as a different person than she used to be to Greek Row.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Saturdays on campus were normally pretty quiet, well that is until Saturday nights. Troy had a normal routine for his Saturdays when he had games. Wake up around 9:00 AM, head to the gym to shoot a hundred free throws, grab a light breakfast and then lunch off campus somewhere, since the cafeteria and café were pretty dead, and then relax the rest of the afternoon up until he had to go to the gym to get ready. However, whenever his dad was in town, things never went according to his schedule.

Staring down at his half-eaten bowl of salad with grilled chicken, Troy flipped his fork up in the air, chuckling to himself as a piece of chicken flew up in the air before landing on the napkin next to him.

"Troy hunny, stop playing with your food," Lucille scolded like all good mothers would do before returning her attention to her own meal.

"Eat up son. You need your strength before the game tonight."

"Whatever Dad," Troy mumbled, his eyes drifting around the cafeteria wishing someone would come and interrupt them, which was unlikely since there was no one there that Troy recognized.

Tiredly, Troy rubbed at his eyes, recalling how his dad called him at seven in the morning, letting him know that their plane had landed and that he needed to be in the gym in thirty minutes. At the time, he'd been half tempted to hang up the phone on his dad and continue with his normal routine, but he really didn't want to deal with his dad being pissed off all day. So he had gotten up and had thrown on some clothes before making his way to the gym, thankful that at least his dad was no longer his coach and that he wasn't living close enough to him to have to go through the routine he used to in high school.

"From the reports I've been reading, the team you are playing tonight apparently has a killer point guard," Jack began, interrupting Troy's thoughts.

Troy rolled his eyes at his dad's incessant need to be involved in this part of his life. "Uh, yeah, Jeff Johnson."

"I was reading an article about how he's likely to be a top draft choice next year."

"Uh huh," Troy mumbled, greatly disinterested in the conversation. He knew where this was going and now he really wished he had someone to save him from this conversation. Unfortunately the older lady with a hairnet cleaning off the salad bar didn't seem like the opportune savior.

"He's going to bring some media attention tonight. If you play the game you're capable of both defensively and offensively then you can steal some of that attention away."

"I know Dad."

Getting frustrated at his lack of enthusiasm, Jack dropped his fork so it clanged loudly against his plate, startling both Lucille and Troy. "Son, you don't seem excited about this opportunity! You do get what a push this could give you to get drafted, don't you? Let's face it, you are undersized and you are at a school that doesn't get too much national media attention. You need to make a name for yourself and this is a golden opportunity for you. Your stats last season weren't stellar so you need to take advantage of games like tonight."

"Gee, thanks for the encouragement Dad," Troy muttered sarcastically.

"Son, I'm just trying to help-"

"Let's just not talk about this anymore," Lucille interrupted her husband, sending him a look that let him know he shouldn't cross her.

Troy smiled gratefully at his mom before going back to finishing off his meal, the atmosphere slightly awkward Troy noted as he watched his dad nearly pout while eating his food, obviously having nothing more to say.

* * *

Twenty minutes before game time and the gymnasium was already loud and almost filled up. Troy sat in his warm up pants and jersey, one leg on either side of the bench in the locker room, as he listened to his coach go over some last minute game points.

Troy spun the ball in his hands getting impatient. He just wanted to get out on the court. Despite all of the crap from his dad, he loved this game. Being on the court was freeing. It was one of the places where Troy felt the most successful and most alive, and he couldn't wait to get out there to start the season at home.

"Alright guys, bring it in," the coach called out as he finished his talk.

Troy stepped forward, finding himself surrounded by his teammates as they all put their hands in the center, the coach nodding at Troy.

"Guys, this is the beginning of our season. As Coach said, it's going to be a tough matchup, but we can do this. Now let's set the tone for the season here on our home court, our first game of the season where the majority of the crowd is cheering for US. This is OUR floor, OUR home. Let's protect it. Win on three. One-two-three-"

"WIN!"

Troy walked towards the gym door, Chad right behind him, both of them with basketballs in hand. Glancing back at Chad, the two bumped fists before Troy pushed open the door, the sound of the crowd drastically increasing as they came into sight.

Smiling to himself, Troy began to run out onto the floor, his team trailing behind him as they made their way around the edge of the court once before running down center court, the team splitting into two lines. Troy looked to his left to see Chad running beside him before they both jumped towards the basket, laying the basketballs off the glass as their teammates tipped the ball off the glass in the lines behind them.

As Troy made his way back to mid court, waiting for the last few teammates to finish, he let his eyes wander over the crowd. Seated in the third row, he spotted his parents, both sending him a smile and his mom waving at him while his dad went back to scouting out the guys on the visiting team.

"Typical," Troy muttered, knowing that was just like his dad to be more focused on the details of the game than on the son he came to see. That's how his dad was…the blessing and curse of being a head coach, even if it was just of a high school team.

Not letting himself become upset about his father though, Troy kept scanning the crowd, his eyes coming to the student section that was roaring in anticipation. Troy found himself laughing as he spotted members of the baseball team in the front row, all with their shirts off and letters painted on their chests, spelling out the school name. Their school loved to support its teams, and basketball was no exception.

While continuing to scan the student section, smiling at many familiar faces, his eyes caught those of Gabriella's from where she was seated in the top row next to Sharpay and Taylor, and a few other faces he recognized, including her new housemate Martha. Troy couldn't help but let the grin on his face grow even wider as he saw her grin when she noticed he was looking at her. Decked out in a simple t-shirt representing their school and a dark blue pair of jeans with her hair down, Troy was in awe of how beautiful she could look without any effort.

"Troy!"

The call of a teammate brought Troy out of his daze, and clapping his hands, Troy caught the pass from his teammate, taking a second to turn back to Gabriella and wink, smirking at the pink blush that tinted her cheeks before he dribbled towards the basket for a lay-up that easily sailed through.

Troy felt an extra bounce to his step as he continued through warm-ups that he hadn't experienced in his previous three years playing for his school. There was something about that night, and when he glanced back up to see Gabriella clapping and watching him intently after he made a jump shot, Troy realized immediately what the source was.

The buzzer sounded and the teams made their way to the sidelines, sitting on the benches as the announcer began to announce the starting line ups.

Troy sat on the bench, waiting for his name to be called as the visiting team had already been announced and three of his own teammates had been announced as well. Hearing his name being called out from the crowd behind him, Troy turned to see his dad trying to get his attention. Once he caught his eye, Jack pointed across the court to the other side, Troy following his eyes to see a few reporters there along with a couple of cameras. Turning back to glance at his dad, Troy nodded, acknowledging that he saw them. He knew his dad could be annoying and pushy, but he was right. If he wanted a shot at playing in his future, tonight was a good opportunity. The reporters might not have been there for him, but he could certainly take advantage of some free national attention.

"And starting at point guard, your senior captain, Troy Bolton!"

Troy quickly hopped up off the bench and ran out to center court to meet his teammates, exchanging high fives along the way. After shaking hands with the referees and the opposing team, Troy set up at his spot in the back court, doing his best to clear his mind of all the hype and focus on the game. When the ball sailed into the air and his teammate tipped the ball back to him, Troy caught it and dribbled down the court.

Spotting Zeke wide open underneath, Troy whipped a bounce pass to him, cheering along with the crowd as Zeke converted the lay-up. Pounding fists with him on the way back, Troy set himself defensively at the top of the key while the visiting team's famed point guard, Jeff Johnson, brought the ball up the court. The noise in the gym grew louder as the student section began to roar while jumping up and down in the stands.

Troy let his eyes glance over there quickly and seeing all of those students, including Gabriella, behind him and his team, Troy felt elated and daring. Looking back at Johnson, Troy reached out and poked the ball away, sailing down the court and easily laying it up and in, loving the new bounce in his step that made him feel he could do anything. Running back down the court, Troy couldn't help but look up at Gabriella. He smiled as he saw her clapping, cheering loudly for him and his team, blushing again as she noticed him looking at her.

He could get used to this.

* * *

The Zeta Theta Mu house was overflowing with students, all of them with a red plastic cup in hand, and nearly all of them completely drunk as they celebrated their basketball team's victory earlier that night.

It had been a close game, with the visiting team leading by five points with thirty seconds to go. After a three point play by Chad though, and then a quick steal on the other end followed by a three from the corner by Troy, they had pulled out the victory, much to the home crowd's excitement.

Now, after making the game winning shot and holding the opposing team's best player to just ten points and forcing him into four turnovers, Troy found himself with a red cup in hand sitting in the backyard along with some other teammates, remembering how good it felt to win that game.

"Hey, I'm going to go get a refill. I'll be back," Troy told them, hopping up out of his chair. Heading back inside, Troy navigated through a bunch of students, some busily making out, others drunkenly giving him their congratulations. Smiling at the pats on the back, and laughing at some of the drunken comments, Troy finally got to the kitchen.

He wasn't drunk yet but he was getting there as he'd had his fair share of drinks that night. When he spotted Tyler walking into the kitchen, Troy couldn't decide if he wished he drank more so he could knock out the guy who'd annoyed him to no end using alcohol as an excuse or if he wished he'd drank much less so he could be sober and remember what it would feel like to knock him out, if he had to.

"What's up Prez?" Tyler stumbled over to where Troy was standing, attempting to fill his cup up at the keg but failing miserably as he couldn't hold the cup still. "I heard you had a great game tonight. Planning on partying the night away?"

"What the hell do you want Whitland?" Troy asked him, already annoyed.

Tyler laughed loudly, the alcohol obviously having an effect, and swung an arm around Troy's shoulders. "Come on Troy, lighten up man," Tyler slurred, trying to take a sip of his beer but failing as most missed his mouth and instead hit his shirt.

Troy shrugged Tyler's arm off of him, shoving him away causing Tyler to stumble into the counter from the impact.

"Dude, what the hell was that? I just wanna talk Prez."

"The feeling isn't mutual. Say what you need to and get out of my sight before I make you leave."

Tyler smirked, noticing that he was getting to Troy, and raised his hands up in surrender. "Relax man. No need to get all uptight. Maybe you need to go find your girl and let out some frustrations. Where is she by the way? I would have thought you'd be celebrating your win with her right now. Since you're not, does that mean she's available? I wouldn't mind a piece of that."

In a matter of seconds, Troy's demeanor went from annoyed to furiously angry as his eyes darkened. "Stay the hell away from her Whitland."

"And what are you going to do, huh Troy?" Tyler raised his eyebrows tauntingly. "You know, most of the Greek Row guys don't even know what a fine taste Gabriella really is. Good thing for me, she still seems invisible without you."

Troy saw red immediately and before Tyler could even react to Troy taking a quick step towards him, Troy's fist connected with Tyler's stomach, sending the young lower-classman doubling over in pain.

Troy had no mercy, even though he was coughing trying to catch his breath, as he grabbed Tyler's shirt collar and pulled him up to face him. "Whitland, I said it before and this is the last time I'm going to warn you. Don't even think about laying a finger on Gabriella. If I find out from her that you have said or done anything, there will be hell to pay. Don't test me on that."

With one more shove into the wall, Troy left a bruised up Tyler in the kitchen, forgetting about his own drink as he made his way back outside to where Chad and some of the other guys were. Troy knew he had a soft spot when it came to Gabriella Montez. A few months ago he would have never let himself get so attached to a single girl. Sure he wouldn't ever want to see a girl taken advantage of, but putting himself out there to defend a girl was something the Troy Bolton of the past few years would have never done, at least the years that made up his college life.

Now though, as he stepped outside and began to walk over towards Chad, he realized that he was perfectly okay with this new chivalrous type of attitude he had, especially when it concerned the beautiful brunette that was quickly stealing his heart. In truth, he was starting to feel more like the Troy back in high school that believed in girls being faithful and, yes, true love.

Grabbing Chad by the shoulder, Troy pulled him away from a conversation. What Tyler had said had unnerved Troy a little. Screw the party. He needed to make sure Gabriella was okay.

"What's up man?" Chad asked, raising his eyebrows suspiciously as he noticed Troy's worried and angered look.

"Can you give me a ride?"

Chad shrugged. "I guess man. I haven't had too much to drink. What's up with you though? Where do you need to go?"

"I need to go see Gabriella. Whitland said something and I just need to make sure she's okay. Can I get a ride over there real quick?"

"Of course," Chad nodded, patting him on the shoulder. "You sure you're okay though? You've had a lot to drink."

"I'm fine man. I just need to see her and make sure she's all right. I don't want to be an idiot and drive over there though."

"All right, let me go grab my keys and I'll meet you by my car."

"Thanks man." With that Troy pushed his way through the crowds of students, partying the last thing on his mind because all he could think of was getting to see Gabriella and making sure she was okay.

* * *

As the microwave beeped, Gabriella grabbed her bag of popcorn out, pouring it into the bowl on the counter before grabbing her drink and walking into the family room realizing just how thankful she was to not be living on Greek Row anymore.

Gabriella had never been the partying type. Her favorite thing to do on a Saturday night was curl up on the couch and watch a movie, but living on Greek Row, she'd never gotten that opportunity. With all of the parties going all night long in her house or others, a quiet night on the weekend was usually completely out of the question.

So, she was taking full advantage of her new living situation. Grabbing her blanket off the end of the couch, Gabriella curled up in the corner, her legs pulled up underneath her and her blanket spread out across her legs as she pressed play.

The light from the TV lit up the nearly darkened room, a small lamp on the table in the corner being the only other source of light. With Zeke and Sharpay out to a movie and Martha gone to hang out with her band, Gabriella was slightly scared to watch a movie about vampires all by herself in a dark house, even if the movie wasn't scary at all.

It was just her luck though that as the movie was at a suspenseful part, her doorbell rang causing her to shriek and jump up, the bowl of popcorn tipping onto the floor with popcorn scattering everywhere. Quickly pushing pause on the movie, Gabriella collected herself before flipping on another light and making her way to the door.

Cautiously she looked through the peephole wondering who would be ringing her doorbell this late at night and felt a sense of relief as she saw Troy leaning on the doorpost.

Immediately, Gabriella unlocked the door, opening it up in time to see Chad's car driving away. "Troy, what are you doing here?"

Seeing Gabriella standing there looking okay, Troy felt a wave of relief wash over him. Since the alcohol in his system had effectively removed some of his inhibitions, Troy in his near drunk state had no problem reaching out and wrapping his arms tightly around Gabriella, burying his face in her shoulder.

Slowly and with a slight sense of hesitation, a very confused Gabriella brought her arms up to wrap around Troy's middle, patting his back gently a few times.

"You okay?" Troy breathed out against her shoulder before pulling back to look at her confused face, his hands gripping onto her arms.

"Am I okay? Shouldn't I be asking you that question? What are you doing here so late? Shouldn't you be out celebrating your win?"

"I was, but then I ran into Whitland and he said something that worried me, and I just had to check, and you're okay? Right? He didn't touch you or anything?" Troy asked, his hand pulling her right arm straight out and examining it for marks before he did the same with the other.

"Troy, what are you doing? Are you feeling all right?" Gabriella asked, fighting off an amused grin, knowing he was slightly drunk from the smell of alcohol on his breath and clothes in addition to the way he was acting.

Troy briefly nodded, continuing his examination of her. Gabriella couldn't decide if it was the cold evening air that she felt from still standing in the open doorway or if it was the way his hands trailed up her arms and lightly brushed the sides of her neck before coming up to cup her cheeks that caused the goosebumps to form on every inch of skin up and down her body. When she shivered in response, it dawned on Troy that she might be cold, so he stepped inside closing the door before bringing his hand back up to join the other in cupping her cheeks.

"I'm fine, I just had to make sure you were okay. I don't see any marks. Did he say or do anything?"

"Troy, what are you talking about? What's going on? I haven't seen Tyler at all since the other day with you."

Troy breathed a sigh of relief, letting one hand trail down Gabriella's face to cup the back of her neck, his other hand still on her cheek where his finger was gently brushing back and forth. Gabriella shivered in response once more. She hadn't felt this way with Troy touching her for awhile, and even though part of her knew she shouldn't let him, a bigger part of her was telling her mind to shut up while she enjoyed the warmth of the moment.

"I was so worried about you. I saw him in the kitchen getting something to drink, and I didn't know if it was just the alcohol and his stupidity talking or if he'd really done something. After I punched him I came straight over here to make sure. And you're okay," Troy finished, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Yep, I'm okay," Gabriella smiled assuredly. "Just watching a movie," Gabriella told him, her head nodding towards the TV.

"Oh yeah?" Troy asked, his hand leaving her face, glancing over to the screen. "So that's what the shriek was from then."

"Actually, that was me," Gabriella replied sheepishly. "Figures you'd ring the doorbell right as one of the most suspenseful parts of the movie comes up CP."

Troy chuckled. "What can I say Angel? I have impeccable timing," Troy boasted, his words slightly slurring.

"That you do," Gabriella giggled. "So was that Chad that drove off?"

"Yep," Troy responded, enunciating the 'p'.

"He just left you here?"

"Yep."

"And is he coming back to pick you up?"

"Nope," Troy answered, his eyes now wandering around the room.

"And how much did you have to drink tonight?" Gabriella asked, fighting back her laughter as she noticed how tipsy he was as she moved to support some of his weight when he leaned on her without realizing it.

Troy's eyes focused back on Gabriella as he heard her question, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Aww, don't worry about me Angel. I didn't have that much to drink."

"Well still, I don't think you should be walking back or anything right now."

"That's okay, I'll just hang with you," Troy responded, making himself right at home as he walked over to the family room and stood behind the couch. "Whatcha watchin?"

Gabriella laughed as she walked over to him. "It's called _Twilight_."

"That movie with the glittery vampire?"

"Have you seen it?"

Troy shook his head, launching himself over the back of the couch only to miss and tumble onto the ground. Without missing a beat though he bounced back up and took a seat on the couch, patting the space next to him and looking up at Gabriella expectantly, playing it off as if nothing had happened just seconds ago.

"Nope, I've just heard about it. But I'll watch it for you Angel. As long as I don't have to hear you swoon over the main guy the whole time."

"Is that the way I get rid of you CP?" Gabriella quipped back, earning a playful glare from Troy.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny Angel. But we're hanging out, so I'm here to stay."

"Well since I can't get rid of you, do you want something to drink? Something non-alcoholic, maybe even water?" she added with a smirk.

"You're hilarious," Troy deadpanned back, amused at their banter. "But no thank you, I don't need a drink. All I need is for you to come sit next to me. So come on," Troy encouraged, patting the spot next to him once again.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at him, flipping off the lamp she'd turned on before walking around the couch.

"I see you had popcorn," Troy laughed, pointing at the floor where a few kernels were smashed from his fall on them.

"Oh gosh," Gabriella muttered, embarrassed as she swept up the popcorn into her bowl. "I forgot about that. Did you want some popcorn?"

"I know we haven't always gotten along great, but don't you think I deserve better than the popcorn from the floor, some of which I squashed?" Troy teased as she set the bowl on the table.

"Shut up Troy, you know I meant a new batch. Here, I'll go make some."

Before Gabriella could even take a step towards the kitchen, Troy had stood up, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and pulling her back. "No, no, no. You are going to sit and watch your movie. I don't need popcorn. You can just enjoy your movie and pretend that I'm not here."

"You sure?"

"Yep," Troy replied, pulling her down to sit, their feet getting tangled as they went to sit down, both of them tumbling onto the couch with Gabriella landing in his lap.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella said, her face flushed as she moved off his lap and into the spot next to him.

"Don't be Angel. You can sit on my lap anytime," Troy replied cheekily, winking at her.

"Don't be a perv CP," Gabriella groaned while playfully shoving his arm.

"Are you going to watch your movie or abuse me?"

Gabriella stuck her tongue out at him before grabbing the remote, pressing play and settling back into her seat.

As the movie went on, Gabriella found herself laughing, not due to the movie, but rather due to Troy's random muttering of sarcastic comments under his breath.

During the middle of the scene with the two main characters sitting in a restaurant for dinner, Gabriella felt Troy shift next to her and almost jumped as his head plopped down in her lap. She looked down at him to see his eyes gazing up at her.

Gabriella laughed, her attention now completely on Troy and not on the movie. "What are you doing?"

"I'm staring at you," Troy replied simply.

"Why?"

"Well all he does is stare, and you seem to enjoy it. I decided I can stare at you too if that's what you want," Troy replied seriously, quickly sitting back up and grabbing the sides of her face dramatically before staring into her eyes, the look on his face causing her to burst out in laughter.

"You're such a dork," Gabriella playfully muttered before pushing his hands away, Troy scooting down before plopping his head in her lap once more.

His eyes returned to the screen for a few minutes before he shifted so he was looking up at her again. "You know Angel, why would you ever want some cold, pale guy like that when you can have someone warm and tan? Like me," Troy added with a big grin. "You wouldn't want to be seen at the beach with a guy who was as pale as that right? Oh wait, he'd be sparkling at the beach…that's right. What a nuisance that glitter permanently being on his body is. But see, if you're cold, he can't hold you and warm you up like I can. I'm a much better choice."

Gabriella laughed at his musings, rolling her eyes at his player-like charm that seemed to never go away. "Shut up Troy. I never said I liked the guy."

"But a crapload of other girls do."

"Well I'm not other girls," Gabriella laughed, looking back at the movie.

"Nope, you're much prettier Angel," Troy charmed before shifting his head in her lap once more so he could watch the movie. Gabriella felt her cheeks flush at his comment and at the situation the two were currently in.

A few weeks ago, she never would have thought she'd be sitting in a darkened family room of her new house with Troy Bolton lying in her lap, giving her chills and causing her to blush and smile. Yet, here she was, and as she heard his soft snores moments later, indicating he had fallen asleep, Gabriella couldn't resist the urge to bring her hand up and run her fingers through his hair soothingly. As much as she tried to suppress it, the protective wall she'd put back up around her heart was slowly crumbling and it was only a matter of time before Troy finally broke through again.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

When Gabriella woke up the next morning she let out a groan as she felt her body ache, shifting to try to stretch the tight muscles only to find herself unable to move, much. Cracking open her eyes, Gabriella blinked against the bright sunlight that was streaming into the room, forcing her eyes open again to take in her surroundings. Within a few seconds Gabriella realized where she was, in the living room of the place she now lived, and even more importantly, who she was with, Troy.

Since she was laying on her side on the couch, with Troy's arm snugly wrapped around her waist, the reason why she couldn't really move, Gabriella twisted her neck to glance at Troy seeing him sleeping rather soundly. In fact, Gabriella had to suppress her giggles that arose when she saw that Troy's mouth was slightly open and spied a dribble of drool escaping his mouth.

Feeling confident she wouldn't wake him up by trying to get up, Gabriella set her mind on trying to get off the couch, sighing a few moments later when all she had managed to do was become even more enfolded by Troy's arm with his hand now curled around her waist. She had looked back to study Troy's face a few times to ensure that he was really asleep and saw no signs of stirring.

"Oh, good, you're up! I was about to think of ten different ways to wake you up!" Gabriella looked up and saw Martha's smiling face looming over the couch from the backside. "As cute as you and Hunk over here are, don't you have work? That's why we made rehearsals tonight after your project meeting."

"Crap, I almost forgot! What time is it?" Gabriella slapped herself on the forehead with her hand and swore again softly as she realized today could possibly be the first time she was ever late to her job.

"A little after 8. Guess it's a good thing you're a natural morning person like me! Then again, you missed the soundtrack coming from Zeke's room last night when he and Sharpay got back. I was almost tempted to sleep down here with you and Troy on the other couch."

Gabriella gave Martha a sympathetic look. "Sorry about Sharpay. I've heard it firsthand many times and know she can be rather, how shall I put it, excited, behind that closed bedroom door with Zeke."

"That's putting it lightly Gabi," Martha replied, giving her a little shrug at the same time. "At least it sounded like they were having enough fun for me too. Need some help up?"

"Please!"

Martha laughed quietly as she walked around the couch and saw how tightly Troy was holding onto Gabriella. "You know, the way he is holding you, I think it's adorable. He clearly, even in his subconscious, doesn't want to ever let you go Gabriella."

Gabriella smiled at the idea before she turned her head to look back at him, thinking of how sweet he really did look in that moment, how vulnerable. "Honestly, if I didn't have a job to go to right now, I'd probably stay here like this for a little while longer but that's between you and me right roomie?"

"Sure, between us girls," Martha replied, looking around the couch and then the way Troy's arm was wrapped tightly around Gabriella for a way to free her roommate. "So I don't know if we can do this without waking him up."

Troy's soft snore caught both of their attention, reminding them that Troy seemed to be in a deeper sleep. "He was close to drunk when Chad dropped him off. He's probably a bit less sensitive to his environment right now than he has been when he's gone to bed sober other times."

"Other times? Gabriella, you minx!"

"No, not like that Martha," Gabriella countered, rolling her eyes. "Nothing happened."

"Still, we need to talk girl."

"Maybe, we'll see. Hey, can you grab the cushion on the other couch?"

After Martha did as Gabriella asked, she came back over with the cushion in hand. "Now what?"

Gabriella tried picking up Troy's arm but felt the dead weight and knew she couldn't lift it on her own while it was so tightly curled around her at least. As she looked around to get ideas, something came to mind, something that made her a bit nervous to try but it was worth a shot.

"What are you doing?" Martha asked as she watched Gabriella manage to turn her body around enough so she could twist her neck so her face was right in front of Troy's. "Gabriella?"

Pushing aside Martha's questions, Gabriella focused on Troy and how even his breathing was. His grip slacked just a little as she managed to move moments before but not enough, not yet. She studied the soft features of his face, seeing also the hard angles, before her gaze landed on his lips, those very soft and smooth lips she remembered feeling on her own not so long ago.

'Here goes nothing,' she thought as Gabriella leaned forward and placed her lips lightly on his, kissing his lips and feeling no response. When Gabriella pulled away, she felt like she had taken a huge risk for nothing but then heard Troy sigh deeply, the corners of his lips pulling upwards. Suspicious that Gabriella had just fallen into a trap, she narrowed her eyes and watched as Troy seemed to actually relax even more, feeling his arm become less tense as well giving Gabriella her desired results.

Quickly, with Martha's help, Gabriella scooted out from under Troy's arm and placed the cushion in the place where she was before, spooned with her back against Troy's front. Within an instant Troy's arm was wrapped right around the cushion as he pulled it closer, the smile still lingering on his lips.

Once Martha and Gabriella were out of the room, Martha let out a giggle and high fived Gabriella. "Gutsy but brilliant! Damn Gabriella, I wish I had someone who was so into me as he is to you!"

"Thanks but I don't think he's all that into me Martha, we're just friends." True Gabriella didn't really think this but she wasn't one to spill out her emotions and guts to everyone, even if she was starting to really enjoy Martha as a roommate and friend.

"Just friends my behind! Girl, even in his sleep he craves you, wants to be near you. Doesn't that mean anything to you? And that smile after you kissed him! So his unconscious talking there!"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, checking the Grandfather clock in the hallway to see her time was ticking way before she had to be work. "Thank you for your help Martha but I have to get dressed and ready for work. I'm going to be cutting it close with having to park and stuff."

"Oh, well then why don't I take you? I'm heading out anyway."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Go get dressed, I'll wait down here."

"You're the best Martha, thanks!"

After Gabriella ran upstairs, she quickly washed her face, brushed her teeth, and used the bathroom before throwing on a newly laundered pair of jeans and a dark green sweater before she slipped her feet into a pair of her favorite black flats. Before she left Gabriella also grabbed her backpack with her latest school stuff to work on in it and ran down the stairs only to slow as she remembered Troy.

"Martha, I'll meet you in the car, okay?"

Gabriella saw Martha nod before Gabriella ran to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and two Tylenol from the drawer where the medicine was kept. Feeling as if she was in some way paying Troy back for the way he cared for her when she had her huge hangover this year, Gabriella crept into the living room and smiled as she heard the soft snoring now coming out of Troy. Biting her lip, she peeked over the couch and saw Troy still peacefully sleeping, looking as adorable as a small toddler fast asleep.

After placing the bottle of water and Tylenol on the coffee table where she knew he would see it immediately, Gabriella turned her attention back on Troy just in time to see him slightly shiver. Gabriella figured that he probably was feeling the chill in the room so she grabbed the blanket on the other couch and draped it over Troy, leaning down to kiss his forehead before leaving him to dreamland as she ran out of the house and to Martha's waiting car out on the street.

* * *

"Dude, wake the hell up! TROY!"

"Ugh, leave me alone," Troy mumbled as he felt another rough shake of his shoulder and consequently of his whole body. "My head hurts and I don't need to open my eyes to know it's too bright."

Zeke sighed as he gave Troy one last shake before giving up. He was surprised this morning when he went downstairs to make breakfast for himself and Sharpay to hear snoring from the living room, somehow surprised and yet not to see Troy passed out on the couch. Admittedly last night when Zeke and Sharpay came home they had gone right up to Zeke's room without paying any attention to anything or anyone else. That was a symptom of having Sharpay around, Zeke really became less observant of the world around him and focused entirely on her.

Figuring Troy needed to sleep after he was at the assumed after party the night before, Zeke had made breakfast for all three of them, taking up his plate and Sharpay's upstairs to eat in bed knowing that Troy would be hungry and find the food on his own. What Zeke had not anticipated though is that Troy would still be sound asleep a few hours later, a little over an hour before practice, dead to the world.

Now, as Zeke looked at his watch and then down at the all mighty Zeta Theta Mu president, well now Zeke was growing frustrated on how to wake him up so Coach didn't make the whole team pay for Troy being even a minute late. The first team rule they lived by is work like a team, win as a team; work separately, lose as a team. Essentially that meant anytime someone violated an expectation the Coach had for his team, like being late or missing curfew, well, the whole team paid the price, usually with extra suicides, laps, or whatever other form of punishment the coach cooked up.

Seeing that physical force wasn't working, Zeke eyed the stereo and decided that would have to be their team captain's rude awakening. Zeke walked to the coffee table and grabbed the remote to the stereo and turned it on, hearing the latest pop song vibe through the air. Troy didn't move.

"Okay then, we'll have to do this the hard way," Zeke mumbled as he walked to the threshold of the living room and slowly began to turn the music up.

When the volume got so high that Zeke had to stop to cover his own ears, glad that Sharpay had already left a while ago or knowing she'd kill him for filling the whole house with the loud music, Troy finally shot up on the couch, grabbing his head to cover his ears. "SHUT THAT OFF ZEKE!"

Chuckling, Zeke happily obliged, seeing Troy worked up and more than awake. "Morning Captain."

"Ugh, that's so not the way to wake up dude! Did you really have to?"

"It was that or lots and lots of cold water. Speaking of, there's some to your right with some Tylenol it looks like."

Troy looked to the coffee table and saw what looked like his true salvation. "Man, you're a Godsend!"

Zeke watched Troy practically dive for the water, twist the cap open, and gulp the water down, throwing the pills into his mouth at some point and finishing it in less than thirty seconds. "Wow, you really were thirsty. Little hung over much? And don't thank me, I didn't do that. I made you breakfast which if you're fast you can still heat up in the microwave and eat before we swing by the house so you can grab your gym stuff."

"My gym stuff? Oh shit, practice!"

"Exactly Troy, exactly!"

"Fuck, thanks Zeke for the offer for breakfast. Can you, umm, throw that breakfast food on a paper plate? I don't want it to go to waste but I do need to go to the house. Shit, Chad drove me here, I don't have my car."

The speed of which Troy was moving, now more than impressed Zeke, so he offered a solution. "I'll go fix that plate up, you spend the next few minutes gathering your wits about you, and then we'll drive to campus. I can't step foot inside the house but I'll wait for you outside and then we'll drive over to the gym. Should give you time to eat in the car."

"That'd be awesome Zeke, thanks."

Zeke nodded, smiling at Troy. "What are friends and brothers for?"

When Zeke turned the radio off completely and left the room, Troy stretched his limbs out some as he stood up, getting his body loose from sleeping on the couch all night. As Troy looked behind him to the couch he saw the blanket that had been draped over him and then looked at the now empty plastic bottle, knowing of course who was his true angel—Gabriella. Troy smiled at the memories of Gabriella and him talking last night while they watched that sparkling vampire movie and eventually fell asleep together there on the couch. The memories of Troy talking so freely with no censor, thanks to the alcohol, made him smile instead of feel embarrassed as he tended to feel like the morning after a party on Greek Row and some hard partying.

By the time Troy was loose, Zeke was back with a paper plate in his hand and a smile on his face. "Ready to go Troy? You finally really awake?"

"Yes sir," Troy smiled, feeling a bit better already, not from the medicine he swallowed but because he knew that his angel cared for him back, her actions this morning, so small as a bottle of water, Tylenol, and a blanket, being enough to speak volumes.

After a short stop off at the Zeta Theta Mu house so Troy could change and Zeke and he could pick up Jason and Chad who were too lazy to walk, the four guys made it into the gym with fifteen minutes to spare with all their stuff dumped into their lockers. While Zeke, Chad, and Jason went to the main courts to start warming up by shooting hoops, Troy opted to take a side tour past Gabriella's office.

It was there that Troy grinned for the first time that morning as he looked into the room over the half open door and saw Gabriella studying yet again. "Do you ever do anything other than study, eat, sleep, and pretend to work?"

Gabriella whirled around at hearing his voice and smiled as she saw Troy leaning on the closed bottom half of the door, his lower arms resting on the top. "I do remember having to be an escape artist this morning. Good morning by the way."

"Good morning." Troy surveyed Gabriella and saw how lively she looked already, having probably been up for hours unlike him. "What do you mean escape artist?"

"Let's just say you had me trapped pretty well. I could have been mean and just flipped you over the side of the couch to wake you up, but I was feeling generous. No bruises or waking you up unnecessarily early when you aren't feeling so good. How are you feeling?"

"Wonderful thanks to you."

Getting up to walk towards the door, Gabriella couldn't take her eyes off his roguish smile and twinkling blue eyes. "All in the call of duty CP. Then again, it was a debt I owed after you saved me the morning after that party."

When Gabriella stopped just a little ways in front of him, Troy reached out and brushed back some of her hair that had gotten loose from her side braid. "Guess we're good for each other in several aspects."

"Maybe so." Gabriella knew she was flirting with fire with Troy but lately, she couldn't help it. As much as she talked to Kelsi, Daniella, Sharpay and Taylor about Troy and her feelings of how she needed space and time to really trust him again, it seemed more and more each day like her heart was far more ready than her mind, yet it was her heart that was so badly bruised in the first place.

Chuckling, Troy leaned forward and kissed her cheek, pulling away quick enough to see the momentary closing of her eyes before she opened them again and flushed at seeing him studying her. "Thank you Angel. Sorry I made this morning so hard for you to get up but honestly, it was an unexpected treat to have you sleeping in my arms again."

"You talk about it like we did it a lot."

"No, not a lot but a handful of times that have burned themselves into my memory. It was nice Gabriella, truly," Troy expressed, seeing her nod her head in agreement to his relief. "Look, I know maybe I'm rushing things but…"

"Hoops! Get your ass out here, Coach is early!" Chad called out, making Troy groan at the inopportune timing. "Come on!"

In some ways Troy was thankful it was just Chad and not his father, who had left with his mother on the first flight out this morning, grateful that they had said their goodbyes with his father getting on him just a smidge more before they left campus to let him celebrate with his team. Either way though, Troy still hated the interruption. "All right, I'll be there in a minute!"

Sensing that Troy would linger longer than the minute, Chad stayed where he was a distance away while Troy sighed, turning his attention back on Gabriella. "I guess I better go. Pick you up for a quick dinner with Zeke and then project time after your shift is over?"

"Sounds like a plan. Have fun," Gabriella replied, giggling as Troy winked at her.

"I'll try but it'd be more fun practicing with you instead of a whole bunch of guys."

With that, Troy turned and jogged to meet Chad before they joined the team to listen to the Coach's recap of the game the night before and his plans for the rest of practice.

* * *

Letting out a small yawn, Gabriella glanced at the clock and saw that she had fifteen minutes left of her shift. It had been a slow day at work, but there was an actual phone call asking about availability for the racquetball courts. Other than that though, besides a few students wanting to check out equipment or get into said racquetball courts, Gabriella had been left alone to study which was more than fine with her.

Her sense of peace though was shattered when an unexpected visitor came by, his voice causing an involuntarily shudder. "So, you work in a place that you have no place being. Kind of makes sense since you lived in a place you had no place of being either for a few years."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella forced herself to turn around to address the guy she knew was more than immature. "What can I do for you? Need to check out a basketball or something?"

"Basketball? No. Can I check you out though? Oops, already did," Tyler smirked, running his eyes again over the curves of Gabriella's body. "So I thought I'd stop by to see if you maybe changed your mind."

"Changed my mind about what exactly?"

"About letting met get a taste of you. You know how they say brothers always share? I think it's my turn."

Feeling a prick of fear creep into her body, Gabriella made sure to grab her cell phone, a move that did not go unnoticed by Tyler whose eyes flickered to the movement. "Why don't you get lost Tyler? What am I to you anyway?"

"Nothing more than a means to make the all mighty President vulnerable." Tyler boldly reached over the half door and unlocked the door knob below the ledge, opening it as he smiled. "Trust me babe, as gorgeous as you are, you mean shit to me. It's all about the end goal though."

"And that's what?" Gabriella asked, fidgeting with the buttons on her phone from memory as she braced her hands on the desk behind her, the back of her cell phone facing outward. "What's the end goal here Tyler? Why do you continue to try to harass me?"

"Try to harass you? I actually think I'm quite successful actually. My goal though? Let's just say it's a little payback for everything Troy has put me through. Sure being a pledge is meant to be humiliating but Troy always took it that extra step, singling me out. Now that I'm a full brother, something he can't change, it's time for a little payback, don't you think?"

"Actually, it sounds rather idiotic to me."

Gabriella gasped as Tyler moved quickly so that he was standing right in front of her. "Idiotic? I think the idiot here is you, thinking you could still remain on this campus after getting your former sorority in trouble, after getting poor Nicole in such hot water. Kappa Phi Sigma is doing so much better without you."

This got Gabriella's back up. "Better without me? Maybe so but I wouldn't call being put on probation 'better'. And you think Nicole is some poor, defenseless creature? You sure as hell are wrong. Then again, I'm not all that surprised to know that you would think that."

"Because I'm right?"

"Because you're two of a kind, without a doubt. Both conniving, jealous, insecure people." Gabriella knew she was treading on dangerous ground with Tyler but she knew that she had to push him to see what was really going on, what he was capable of. "Whatever Troy did I bet was warranted."

"Humiliating me in front of my pledge class multiple times? Making me do push ups while almost naked in the quad? Having me clean all the bathroom floors with a toothbrush? The list goes on and on Gabriella. Why don't you see how cruel this guy is?"

"Maybe because he isn't what you think he is."

"Maybe he isn't who you think he is," Tyler returned, seeing the brunette's strength of will come back slowly the longer they talked. "You really think he could love you? Change his colors so quickly just for the ultimate prize, a fuck with you, on a permanent basis? His changing, whatever you think it is, is just temporary, mark my words. I've seen things in that house to know. He's just waiting for you to get in bed with him then he'll move on. A true Zeta Theta Mu brother to the core."

Knowing she couldn't give into him, Gabriella fought back her instincts and emotions to put forward the strongest front she could muster. "You know, it's so sad how much you are trying to hurt Troy through me. In fact, I think the truth is that you're jealous of Troy, so much that you want to be him, in every way. As much as you say you're pissed at him humiliating you, I think it's just you wanting to be him, have his popularity with the brothers, his way with ladies, his all around excellent reputation around this campus. Must suck to always not be enough."

Tyler's lunge towards Gabriella was so sudden that it startled her into dropping her cell phone on the desk as she tried to back up as far as she could into it while Tyler's face ended up less than two inches from her face, his eyes flashing. "Listen to me bitch, you don't know shit about me. My beef with Bolton is just that, revenge for his humiliation. I wouldn't want to be him for all the money in the world, especially if it means I'd have to settle for a low in the food chain girl like you. You may be a fine ass to look at but your status ain't nothing around here. Now if you're smart, you'd shut your fucking mouth and stop saying shit about things you don't know. Hell, maybe it would be in your best interest to get Kappa Phi Sigma off probation."

Swallowing, Gabriella shook her head. "Unfortunately since I wasn't the one to put them on probation I can't do that."

Just as Tyler seemed to loom even closer, bending Gabriella's back over the desk as she leaned even further away, a loud slap was heard in the room making them both turn to see an enraged Zeke standing there in the doorway. "Tyler, get the fuck away from Gabriella, now!"

Tyler smirked, backing away from Gabriella and holding his hands up. "No harm, no foul! I didn't touch the bitch. God knows why you and Troy are so damn protective of her. She must be good in bed after all."

"Shut up you pile of shit," Zeke spat out, more than angered by the presence of the younger guy.

"What are you going to do Zeke? Take a swing at me for just having a little chat with your lady here? You'll get yourself kicked out of the frat for sure. Is that what you fucking want?"

"Gabriella, are you okay?" Zeke asked, sparing Gabriella a quick glance before looking back at Tyler.

"I'm fine. Zeke, don't do this, Tyler is right. You'll get in worse trouble and I don't want that," Gabriella stated, straightening and picking up her phone again, glancing down to make sure she hit the save button before looking back up. "Please, Zeke."

Chuckling, Tyler shook his head. "You better listen to the bitch Zeke," Tyler sneered, "she's actually right about this."

Clenching and unclenching his jaw, Zeke nodded, taking in a deep breath and letting it out before taking a step into the office and leaving the doorway open. "Go. Get the hell out of here!"

"All right, easy Zeke. Catch you later Gabriella!"

Gabriella saw the wink he gave her and shuddered. "Not if I can help it."

Tyler laughed as he left, Zeke ducking out of the office to watch him leave all together before turning his attention back on Gabriella. "Gabs, are you really all right?"

Finally able to let her guard down, Gabriella let out a few breaths before looking back at Zeke, seeing the concern in his eyes. "I'm okay."

"Hey Angel, it's time to go…" Troy's voice was heard by both Zeke and Gabriella who both jumped at the sound of it and looked at the doorway to see a confused Troy. "Okay, what's going on?"

Knowing how upset Troy would be, Gabriella thought about lying and telling him it was nothing, but knew she couldn't lie to Troy, ever. "Troy come in here and close the door. Zeke go stand by it."

Regarding Gabriella's cryptic message as a sign that something serious had happened, Troy did what he was asked, looking back at Zeke who looked none too pleased as he stood next to the door while Gabriella approached them both. "What is it Gabriella? Are you hurt?"

"No," Gabriella answered truthfully, "but I think you need to see this."

Once the video clip was done, Gabriella quickly put her cell phone down on the desk and placed her hands on each side of Troy's face as she saw the flush spread across his face the longer he tried to hold in his anger. "Troy, nothing happened to me, I'm fine."

"Was that your whole conversation?" Troy managed to ask between clenched teeth, feeling his hands ball into fists. "How did it end?"

"After he said that about you being a true brother of the frat, one of them, we had a bit more of an exchange. He tried intimidating me a bit, but I'm all right."

"Zeke?"

Troy's simple syllable communicated to Zeke that he wanted confirmation of Gabriella's story and Zeke obliged. "I found Tyler looming over her but he wasn't touching Gabriella at all. Had he been, expulsion or not, I would have had him on the ground, honest. You're just as protective of Gabriella as I am Troy. We just need to keep a better eye on that bastard is all."

Shaking his head, dislodging Gabriella's hands, Troy disagreed. "No, that's not all. I'm taking this to the Zeta Theta Mu board. Gabriella, can you send me the video? I'm going to have this asshole taken care of once and for all. And yes, Zeke, we need to keep better tabs on Gabriella, at least for right now. I knew Tyler was no good, it's why I showed up last night."

"You guys talk as if I can't defend myself!" Gabriella complained. "I don't want you both getting into more trouble over me."

This time it was Troy who placed his hands on Gabriella's cheeks, looking deep into her eyes. "Let the trouble come then. Zeke and I care too much about you to let you suffer at Whitland's hands. On second thought, taking him to the Conduct Board will only piss him off. As much as I'd love that more than anything, I don't want to provoke him, not yet. Besides, I already know they'll say it's just words, no matter my influence, and he'll get a slap on the wrist. Can you still send it to me and Zeke both that way there are multiple copies? Are you sure you're fine?"

"Sure and yes, I'm fine. I don't break that easily."

"And for that I'm very grateful," Troy replied, leaning in and kissing her forehead, closing his eyes for a moment. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"Troy, what are we going to do about Tyler?" Zeke questioned, watching Gabriella gather her things. "He's clearly out to do something."

"And I'm his target. I don't care what he tries with me but you and I need to better watch Gabriella where possible okay? Especially on our project night."

"Count me in dude."

"Good. Now, let's go get some dinner and work on that project. Work is always good to take one's mind off of things right?"

When Zeke opened the door, he was the first one out followed by Troy who had his hand firmly on the small of Gabriella's back. Gabriella paused to give the next shift's student worker a smile when she spotted her leaning against the wall nearby, ignoring her questioning look about Gabriella coming out of a locked office with two guys. 'True that could start lots of rumors but that's the least of my worries now. Just as Troy and Zeke are watching over me, I need to gear up for myself to protect me but also watch over them too.'

"Angel, that sound good to you?" Troy asked, looking down at her, a tense look still on his face.

"I'm sorry, what?" Gabriella asked, hating how she had spaced.

Zeke chuckled, breaking the tenseness among the three as he looked back and saw the clueless look on Gabriella's face. "Nachos? For dinner? I swear maybe you lived in that sorority house too long. I think I'm seeing some blond in your hair."

Gabriella dropped her jaw at this. "Take that back Zeke Baylor! Ugh!"

As Gabriella began chasing Zeke out of the gym, Troy felt himself smile as he jogged behind them, hearing their combined laughter float back to him. It felt wonderful to see everything really and truly become repaired between the three of them at least to this state. He only wished for two things: that Gabriella would let him into her heart and that Tyler would drop off the face of the earth. The latter wasn't a high likelihood of happening but Troy sure hoped the former was, with all of his own heart.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

"Thanks Kelsi!" Gabriella called out before shutting the car door and heading up the walkway to the house. Gabriella had just finished her shift at work and was on her way back home when Kelsi spotted her walking on campus and offered her a ride home.

She had spent the last couple of hours at work, being certain to get all of her studying done so that she would be free for the evening. She, Martha, and Zeke had decided to throw a house warming party of sorts that night for their group of friends.

When Gabriella opened up the front door, music filled her ears. Making her way further into the house, Gabriella smiled seeing Martha, Sharpay, and Taylor all sitting around the kitchen table chatting as they munched on some chips.

"Hey Gabs! How was work?" Sharpay asked, being the first to spot her.

"Exhausting. You know when everyone else is showing up?"

"The guys are all still at the gym," Taylor answered. "Chad just texted me saying they were done with practice and would be heading over soon."

"Okay, well we can wait for them before we start cooking. Kelsi just dropped me off, but she was going to go pick up Ryan and also get some drinks from the store, so they should get here soon as well."

Martha reached over, sliding the fourth chair at the table out a bit and motioning towards it. "Pull up a chair. You're just in time for the afternoon gossip, and if you hurry, you might get some chips as well."

Gabriella shook her head, pulling her backpack up on her shoulder a bit more. "Actually, since everyone will be here in a few minutes, I was going to go upstairs, take a quick shower, and change," she finished, her eyes catching Sharpay's, who had a knowing look on her face, which quickly became a smirk causing Gabriella's nerves to kick in.

"Getting ready for a certain someone are you?"

With a roll of her eyes, Gabriella hoped her expression wasn't revealing the small amount of truth to that statement. All day long she'd been looking forward to the hangout that evening, because she knew that she and Troy would be able to spend more time together. Lately she couldn't get enough of him, a drastic change to how things were mere months earlier, even just weeks earlier.

"Try to hide it all you want Gabs, but I know you too well. What are you planning to wear? Oh!" Sharpay exclaimed, clapping her hands together, her eyes lighting up.

"Don't even think about it!" Gabriella ordered, hoping to nip her ideas in the bud. "You will _not_ be coming up to my room and trying to find me some outfit to wear tonight. I can handle that all on my own."

"But Gabs," Sharpay whined, putting on her best puppy dog face.

Gabriella shook her head sternly. "No way, not falling for it."

"You're no fun," Sharpay muttered. "Just don't come downstairs in baggy clothes."

"Okay Shar," Gabriella agreed.

After escaping the grilling from Sharpay, Gabriella made her way upstairs before heading into the bathroom to take a shower. Normally, she was not one to take too long in the shower, but for some reason tonight was different. She couldn't decide if it was because the shower was an opportunity to relax and escape the inquisition from her friends or if it was because she was pre-occupied with looking extra special for a certain someone. She attempted to convince herself it was the former even though she knew better.

Dressed in a dark brown skirt and a black tank top, her hair slightly pulled up and wearing her favorite pair of flip flops, Gabriella made her way downstairs almost thirty minutes later. She couldn't hide her smile as she spotted her friends still seated around the table, now joined by Ryan, Kelsi, Zeke, Chad, and Jason.

"Hey guys! Glad you could all make it!" Gabriella exclaimed as she stepped further into the kitchen, her eyes scanning the room for the one missing person that she couldn't wait to see. Her heart sank a bit as she began to realize he wasn't there, her mind already coming up with hundreds of rational reasons to explain his absence. Those excuses were for naught though when moments later her heart began to race as she felt his warm breath on her neck and his scent filled her nostrils.

"Looking for someone?" his amused voice inquired in a soft whisper.

Spinning around, Gabriella wasn't even aware of the eight pairs of curious eyes watching them. All she picked up on in that moment were his black Converse shoes covered slightly by his dark blue jeans, his light blue long sleeved shirt that was rolled up to his elbows and that the top few buttons of said shirt were undone revealing his white wife beater underneath. Gabriella also couldn't miss that the blue color of his shirt matched the color of his irises, making them radiate even more.

Looking at him, Gabriella realized that Troy had spent a little more time and effort than normal in getting ready for that night as his normally purposefully messy hair was now styled slightly being spiked up a bit.

The moment her eyes trailed back down to his, Gabriella felt her cheeks immediately flush. "Done checking me out?"

"Shut up," Gabriella muttered, shoving his shoulder playfully.

"Because I don't mind at all Angel," Troy continued despite her protests. "Feel free to keep going. I'll be busy checking you out as well. You look beautiful," Troy added in a whisper, stepping closer and pulling her into a hug, letting his lips lightly brush her cheek as they pulled apart.

"You two gonna stand there and flirt all night? Some of us would like to eat you know."

Troy immediately glared at Chad, the source of the interruption, keeping his arm wrapped around Gabriella's waist while she hid her face in his shoulder embarrassed. "If you want to eat, then eat."

"Well I would, except we're all supposed to cook together and then eat, which means we need you two lovebirds."

"Get your butt up and lead the way then, man."

"Gladly!" Chad cheered, jumping up to his feet. "Let's go Zeke. Time to cook this spectacular meal you have planned. I've been excited about this all week. "

"Alright, first thing, everyone wash their hands. Next, I figure if we split up into groups, we'll get things done quicker," Zeke ordered, drying his hands off and slipping a red apron over his neck.

"Very manly dude," Chad joked sarcastically, struggling to contain his laughter.

"Shut up afro-geek. I think it's sexy," Sharpay said, a glint in her eyes as she wrapped her arms around Zeke's waist, her fingers playing with the apron ties.

"I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit," Chad confessed with a disgusted look on his face.

"Shut it Danforth or I'll make you," Sharpay quipped back.

"Well it's obvious those two can't work together," Zeke pointed out, grabbing Sharpay by the waist and pulling her into his side. "Chad, you and Taylor pair up along with Troy and Gabriella. You guys can make the rice and salsa. Shar and I will take care of the meat and other taco ingredients, and then J, Martha, Kelsi and Ryan, you guys can work on the tortillas and dessert."

Everyone soon paired off, busily cooking while the radio blasted music in the background.

Gabriella stood in front of the counter, chopping up some tomatoes while Troy stood next to her, appearing to be chopping up some cilantro. His focus though wasn't on the food in front of him, but rather the girl beside him.

"Dude, I'm going to laugh so hard when you chop off your finger," Chad laughed turning away from helping Taylor with the rice. "I can see the headlines now: 'Local star point guard Troy Bolton out for the season'."

"Shut it Chad."

Chad was not deterred though by Troy's attempts at being harsh. "Let's go to Glenn with today's local sports news…Glenn? 'Local star basketball player Troy Bolton reportedly is out for the season after injuring his left index finger in a nasty encounter with a kitchen knife. Word is he was too busy sappily staring at his crush and chopped off his finger while cutting cilantro. Fortunately the digit was recovered and sewn back on, but doctors have advised Bolton to sit out the rest of the season. Don't be alarmed though fans. Chad Danforth, the team's other star player who still has all ten digits intact is perfectly capable of carrying this team through the rest of the season. Back to you Susan'," Chad finished with a huge smirk on his face.

"My fist is about to have a nasty encounter with your face if you don't shut it," Troy warned, his cheeks flushing pink, ultimately matching Gabriella's.

Glancing over at her, Troy felt a smile tug at his lips as he wrapped his arm around Gabriella. Immediately she let herself be pulled into him, her face becoming buried in his chest.

"Awwww," the girls all cooed, earning a stiff glare from Gabriella, who brought her face out of Troy's chest long enough to give them a stern look before returning it to the comfortable spot between Troy's neck and shoulder.

Zeke placed his hand on Sharpay's back, leading her to the sliding door that went out back. "We're going to check on the meat. Back to work all of you," he ordered playfully.

Breathing a sigh of relief that the attention was no longer on them, Gabriella pulled her face away from Troy's chest, keeping her arms wrapped around his waist while she sent Zeke an appreciative look, earning a wink in return.

"Sorry about that Angel."

A confused look crept onto Gabriella's face as she looked up at Troy who was staring back down at her. "Why are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry for being the cause of all that attention on you. But I'm not sorry for staring at you," Troy added quickly leaning down and pulling her into a hug, his cheek resting against hers. "I can't help myself there," Troy admitted in a soft whisper, kissing her cheek before pulling back.

Smiling at how her cheeks tinted pink even more, Troy spun her around so she was facing the counter once more, this time caging her body in with his as he stood right behind her.

"Can I help you?" Gabriella smirked, angling her head back so she could look up at him.

"What?" Troy shrugged innocently.

"How am I supposed to get this done with you hovering over me like this?"

"Am I distracting you?" Troy softly asked so the others couldn't hear, sliding his arms around her waist tentatively.

"Yes," she answered honestly, unable to control the butterflies in her stomach, certain Troy could hear her heart race.

"Good."

Troy clasped his hands together in front of her, effectively trapping her in his arms. Gabriella didn't mind at all though, shifting a bit so her back was closer to him, finally calming the butterflies enough to finish chopping up the tomatoes.

After they had all the ingredients ready in front of them, the two loaded the ingredients into the blender, mixing it up before pouring some into a small bowl on the table for dip, while the rest was placed in a larger bowl for the tacos.

Since they were finished, along with Taylor and Chad who were now at the table, the latter inhaling the newly made salsa, Troy and Gabriella ventured outside to check on the meat for Sharpay and Zeke.

"Looks like it needs a few more minutes, yeah?"

"I think so," Troy agreed, shutting the lid on the barbeque, looking over his shoulder to see Gabriella lying on a lounge chair.

With a smirk on his face, Troy walked closer. He had backed off a bit after he had hurt Gabriella, not wanting her to get the wrong idea and push him away completely. However, from the cuddling on the couch the previous weekend to her leaning into him and holding him tight earlier that night when she was embarrassed, Troy could tell she was okay with a little more physical contact.

So, continuing with his latest behavior, Troy sat down on the lounge chair, squeezing in right beside her.

"There are more chairs you know," Gabriella giggled.

"I see that, but I want to sit here," Troy insisted, wiggling a bit more. "None of the others have a beautiful girl sitting in them. Now scoot."

With a dramatic sigh and a playful roll of the eyes, Gabriella shifted over, not resisting the urge to lay her head on his chest when Troy brought his arm around her shoulders.

The two laid there for a few minutes, completely content, and only getting up when Sharpay and Zeke came back outside to get the meat, Sharpay being sure to send a few catcalls their way.

With the meal all prepared and everyone back inside, the group sat down, falling into easy conversation, despite the fact that some of them never before hung out together.

"So Chad comes out of the bathroom the next morning…his hair bright pink!" Jason re-told a story from their sophomore year, having trouble controlling his laughter.

"The look on his face…," Troy managed to say through his own laughter.

"Priceless," Zeke finished, slapping Chad on the back who glared at his friends, not amused that he was the one being made fun of at the moment.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. You guys are hilarious," Chad muttered in a monotone voice.

Taylor covered her mouth, trying to hold in her giggling while bringing her other hand up to wrap around Chad's shoulders and pull him into a consoling hug. "Chad honey, we're not laughing at you."

"You might not be, but I am," Sharpay chimed in, smirking when Chad stuck his tongue out at her in a childish way. "Do you guys have any pictures? I always told you that pink would be a good color on you Chad."

"I have one!" Jason yelled out, flinching as Chad whipped his head quickly towards him.

"Cross, if you value your life at all, you'll give me those pictures when we get back so that I can burn them."

"It's alright J, you can give them to him. I have copies too," Troy added.

"Me too."

"Me three," Gabriella added, right after Zeke.

"Where'd you get the picture from?" Chad questioned, his jaw dropped.

Taylor shifted uncomfortably in her seat for a few moments, before shyly raising her hand. "That'd be from me."

"You!?" Chad exclaimed incredulously, shocked that his own girlfriend had kept copies of the pictures and gave them to other people.

"She's my best friend," Taylor shrugged, bringing her hand up to rub Chad's back lightly.

"Why would you all keep them?"

"Because they are fucking hilarious man!" Troy supplied, a huge smile on his face showing how clearly he was amused by Chad's reaction.

"Keep talkin' man and I'll show Gabriella the pictures of you when you were three and decided to dress up like a little girl so that you'd fit in with those little girls your mom was babysitting."

"Duuude!" Troy groaned, covering his face as the whole table burst into laughter, looking out of the corner of his eye to see Gabriella's face red with laughter, unable to help the small grin that appeared on his face when he saw that.

"Don't worry Gabriella, I'll call up Mrs. B and get you access to those," Chad assured Gabriella, causing Troy to glare at him, the look on Troy's face being a clear example of the phrase "if looks could kill".

"You suck man."

"Payback Bolton, it's a bitch! And don't think you two got off the hook either," Chad continued, his eyes shifting back and forth between Zeke and Jason. "J, I have pictures of the game when we switched your game shorts from a medium to a small and you had to wear them the whole game, with your spandex shorts being longer than your game shorts."

Jason sunk in his chair when Chad finished and the group laughed loudly once again. "And Zeke, I think we all remember freshman year of high school and the wetting the bed incident."

Everyone whipped their heads around to look at Zeke in shock, while Chad, Jason, and Troy all covered their mouths to hide their laughter.

"Whoa, when was this?" Gabriella exclaimed. "Not all of us remember it!"

"Ow! Zeke, what the hell?" Chad yelled, rubbing his forehead and picking up a piece of ice that had landed on his plate after bouncing off his face.

"That was me warning you to keep that story to yourself…not everyone here has heard it, thankfully, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"No way man!" Chad protested. "The rest of us have been humiliated. You aren't getting out of it!"

"Yeah, I need to hear this story," Gabriella added, turning to Troy. "Troy?"

Unable to resist the look on her face, Troy began to re-tell the story, much to Zeke's dismay. "Freshman year, Zeke fell asleep one night when we were all hanging out, and we put his hand in a bowl of warm water. He woke up a few hours later in his rubber ducky boxers mind you, and let's just say that the ducks weren't the only yellow spots on his boxers. Needless to say, he tossed those and his sheets in the trash that night."

"You're dead Bolton," Zeke mumbled under his breath, his mumblings barely heard over the laughter of everyone at the table.

Troy turned to Zeke, shaking his head while still chuckling. "Sorry man, I can't resist the look Gabriella gave me. Call me whipped all you want. Plus, that was pretty fucking hilarious!"

* * *

After the stories were over, everyone had spent the rest of the time eating and discussing the project that would take place Thursday night. They had volunteered to not only show up, but also help with spreading the word about the event, as well as helping to set up and run things that night, much to Zeke, Troy, and Gabriella's relief since they were going to need the extra help.

Later on, Troy and Gabriella found themselves walking outside after just finishing up the dishes. Everyone had left a while before, except for Martha who was in her room, and Sharpay and Zeke who had relocated up to his bedroom.

"Are you sure you don't need to get back?" Gabriella asked, a slight shiver going up her arm as Troy grabbed her hand in his.

"Nope, I'm free for the night," Troy smiled at her before tugging her towards the hammock that was set up a few feet away. "You first," Troy grinned, ushering her to get into the hammock first.

Gabriella blushed, carefully settling herself into the middle of the hammock.

Troy gestured to the small space left for him, his eyebrow raised. "You don't expect me to fit in that small space, do you?"

"What? You eat too many tacos or something?"

Troy just rolled his eyes, turning to sit down as well. "Shut up Montez and scoot over."

"Wait! Not-," Gabriella called out a little too late as the hammock spun around and the two hit the ground with a thud. "Yet," she finished with a groan, before succumbing to laughing hysterically at the situation.

"I told you that you ate too many tacos," Gabriella teased, earning a playful shove from Troy.

"Ha. Ha," Troy responded sarcastically before brushing off his shirt as he stood up, offering Gabriella a hand. "Now get up Angel, and stop laughing at me."

"Maybe you should go first this time CP."

"Gladly," Troy smirked, settling himself into the hammock cautiously before trying to move to the side, only to flip over once again, landing on the ground with another thud, his groans quieted by Gabriella's giggles.

Troy just rolled his eyes, brushing himself off once more. "Glad I amuse you Angel."

"You sure you don't want to just sit on a lounge chair? Or maybe even just stay on the ground? You two seem to be getting along great."

"You're so funny," he muttered sarcastically under his breath before tentatively sitting down in the hammock once more, this time managing not to flip himself over. "Alright, your turn. Get in here," Troy ordered, holding his arms out to Gabriella, who slowly sat down on the hammock before laying back comfortably, her head settling on Troy's shoulder tucking beneath his chin while his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"See? I knew we could manage it," Troy whispered, his hand drawing patterns on her shoulder.

"Don't speak too soon there Bolton. They say pride comes before a fall and I've taken enough tumbles for one day."

Troy just laughed, pulling her more into him, resting his cheek on her head for a few minutes before Gabriella interrupted the silence.

"You think your mom would show me those pictures of you if I asked?"

Troy groaned before bringing his hand down her side, tickling her there and causing her to squirm a bit, much to his delight. "Very funny Angel, but I'm sure your mom has some embarrassing pictures too."

"Nope, all of mine are humiliation free. I didn't have cross-dressing tendencies as a child."

Troy just rolled his eyes, unable to think of a good comeback. "I'm gonna kill Chad."

"Aww, come on! I bet you were cute in a little dress. What color was it?"

"Angel, I'm warning you! Don't forget, I have connections with your sister. I'm sure she'd jump at the opportunity to share some embarrassing stories."

"You wouldn't."

"Oh, I would," Troy laughed, unable to resist the urge to lightly brush his lips against the top of her hair, bringing his hand back up to settle around her shoulder.

"Tonight went well," Gabriella commented after the two had been quiet for a few minutes.

"Yeah it did. We're gonna kill on that project come Thursday night."

Gabriella sighed. "I hope so. I'm all nervous already. Plus, our grades are counting on this event going well."

"Don't worry Angel, we won't let your record be tainted," Troy joked, playfully poking her side before turning serious, his hand now soothingly rubbing her back.

With that, Gabriella relaxed and snuggled more into Troy's embrace, enjoying the quiet of the night and swinging ever so slightly in the hammock. Seconds, minutes and possibly hours could have gone by but the couple wouldn't have noticed. No, all they knew was that their future together was looking clearer every day and to help further their chance, they each silently made a wish on the same star that night.


	30. Chapter 30

**Co-Written with cj10824**

_Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters or places created by the High School Musical franchise or by Disney! We also do not own any of the music/lyrics used in this chapter!  
_

Chapter 30

The doors to Starlight hadn't even opened yet but the club was more than moving between Gabriella, Troy, and Zeke who were overseeing everything and their friends who were working with the Zeta Theta Mu brothers who were also all there to make the configuration of the club an exact replica of the trio's project plan. In order to match the project's club layout, seating was rearranged on the main floor, plus even more modifications to the outdoor part of the club up on the roof were made.

In addition to installing a better sound system to play whatever music was going on in the main part of the club, the dance floor and bar were adjusted a bit to make it more appealing and easy to get to in hopes of drawing more people up there than normal. The outdoor heaters would be key as well to keep the club goers content to party up there since the winter air was ever present.

Essentially, for tonight, every square inch of Starlight was being utilized with the promise to the manager that any changes done would be undone by the end of the night but for now, just a few minutes before the doors finally opened, Gabriella, Troy, and Zeke were focused on making their class project a huge success.

Just as the bouncers moved to open the doors with a few of the Zeta Theta Mu brothers, including the new president and vice president, Gabriella signaled to Martha for the band to start playing, setting the mood with an upbeat and catchy song. The brothers at the door would be in charge of collecting money as the bouncers checked IDs while other brothers were allowed to enjoy the night away. A few were also signed up to help the club staff do cleanup afterwards.

After Troy helped at the front doors for the first hour, he couldn't help but grin as he realized that the count he was keeping on his counter showed that the project was on the fast track to being successful. In fact, by Troy's estimations, in less than another hour, they will have made enough money to break even and every dollar after that would be profit and charity money. 'Note to self, thank everyone for all of their hard work for tonight!'

Meanwhile across the room, Zeke and Gabriella were going over the DJ's list of songs for the night, making sure all the songs fit with the vibe of the night they were aiming for. Once that was done, Gabriella split to go check on the band and get herself geared up for the moment she had rehearsed for that was actually coming up within the next hour and a half. Zeke checked on the bar and smiled as the head bartender gave him an update that the tabs were doing well too, a definite sign for Zeke that the project was starting off more than well.

When everything seemed to be in place and running smoothly, Gabriella, Troy and Zeke met up again in a quieter part of the club, grins on all of their faces as each of them had seen signs of tonight being more of a success than they had expected.

"Guess we're going to blow those other teams out of the water after all," Zeke stated, a grin on his lips. "I can't believe how awesome tonight's turnout is!"

"Definitely more than I had predicted," Gabriella agreed. "Lots of Greek Row and non-Greeks too. It's a good mix. I think we're going to have to have our friends over again Zeke as a thank you for all their own efforts. The brothers were sort of mandated but our friends really pitched in to get the word out and help tonight."

Zeke nodded. "I think so too. Another cook and eat thing?"

"Hell yeah!" Troy exclaimed with a grin on his face. "That was a blast this week!"

"And the fact that you and Gabriella were almost glued at the hip has no influence over your feelings right?"

Gabriella gasped at Zeke's ribbing, smiling though as she saw the true comradeship between Troy and Zeke really surface again. Besides working things through with Troy, Gabriella had also been focused on trying to get those two back together as best friends because, in all honesty, Gabriella felt that if it hadn't been for her, they never would have gotten into a fight and fractured their friendship to begin with.

Troy glanced over at Gabriella and saw the pink tint to her cheeks. "Doesn't hurt, not going to lie," he smirked, enjoying that pinkness turn into a deeper almost red shade with his words. "Seriously, tonight has been going so great already, I can't believe it!"

"All thanks to you and your brilliant mind." Gabriella leaned up and kissed Troy's cheek, secretly loving the way he suddenly got that extra sparkle in his eyes that she could clearly see despite the dimness. "This really was an amazing idea Troy, I certainly never would have thought of it."

"Consider it only a down payment on what I owe you after all the stupid shit I did to you," Troy replied, thinking to himself in that moment that he really would do anything to really earn back her full trust he had before. "Gotta keep that stellar academic record of yours up right?"

"So you keep reminding me," Gabriella dryly answered. She saw Zeke watching them and giggled as Zeke shook his head at their flirting. "Sorry Zeke."

Chuckling, Zeke said, "No need for apologies. Just getting used to seeing my two best friends flirting again. But, there will be plenty of time for that later. We need to disband and start checking on things again if we want to keep tabs on everything. We want that A right?"

"Hell yeah!" Troy agreed, pumping fists with Zeke and hugging Gabriella before all three split up and attended to their different areas that each of them had been assigned for the night to keep an eye on.

Another hour had gone by and Gabriella was getting anxious knowing that the band was getting into the last few songs of their set. In truth, with all the craziness of making sure the event went well, Gabriella had almost forgotten about her commitment to make tonight her debut with the band if only for two songs. Now she was grateful for the distraction because her stomach not only somersaulted but twisted in every which way until Gabriella thought she'd be sick.

When a hand grabbed her shoulder, Gabriella nearly jumped out of her skin, relieved when it turned out to be Ryan with Kelsi by his side. "Hey, you okay? You look really pale."

Without saying anything, Gabriella nodded, dragging her lower lip in between her teeth as she turned her head to eye the stage again, seeing Martha rock out with the lead guitar player, Max.

"Is everything going okay with the night? I thought I overheard Zeke say you were getting close to breaking even already," Kelsi stated, concerned along with Ryan by the paleness of their friend. "Do you need water or need to sit down?"

"No, I'll be all right. I'm just, really, really nervous!" Gabriella exclaimed, turning her attention back to her friends. "I can't believe tonight is really here, that I'm going to do this!"

"What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, confusion on his face.

Kelsi though instantly understood what was worrying her friend. "Come on Gabriella, let's go take a walk. Ryan, I'll come find you later."

"Umm, sure," Ryan replied, letting Kelsi and Gabriella go as Kelsi led Gabriella through the crowd on the dance floor and down the hall that led to some rooms, one of which Kelsi knew Gabriella's change of clothes were.

Once the door was shut, quieting the music, Kelsi turned to Gabriella and was surprised to see Gabriella actually shaking. "Gabriella? I can tell Martha you are too sick to sing tonight. I'm sure she'd understand."

Gabriella though shook her head, running her hands up and down her bare arms as she eyed the red and black leopard print dress with a black waistband hanging on the hanger, suddenly even more unsure about what she'd be doing and wearing in just a few songs from now. "I have to do this, I'd disappoint them so much."

"Them? The band? Martha? Who else knows?"

"Just you, Zeke, Martha and of course the band. Kelsi, if I can't do it tonight though, when am I going to? I committed to the band, I can't let them down, even if I'm not the lead singer or anything."

Kelsi gave Gabriella a soothing hug, rubbing the brunette's back before stepping away from the embrace. "You may not be the lead singer but I think you aren't giving yourself enough credit. Martha mentioned to me the other night how wonderful you are. Besides, I think tonight will be the perfect venue for you to step into your own light and show this school what you really are made of."

"You sound almost exactly like Martha," Gabriella replied, laughing a little. "All right, help me get ready?"

"My pleasure."

Sooner than Gabriella would have liked, she found herself standing on the side of the stage in the back with Kelsi giving her all the strength the smaller female could as the current song wound down into the last chorus. "You're going to be fantastic," Gabriella heard Kelsi say again, wishing with all her heart that Kelsi was right.

When Martha glanced over and gave Gabriella a wide smile, Gabriella knew it was time, barely hearing Martha's introduction through the hammering of her heart against her ribcage.

"Thank you! You all have been great and with our next two songs, I'd like to take this time to introduce our newest member, one of your wonderful organizers of the night, Gabriella Montez!"

"Go!" Kelsi urged, smiling at Gabriella as she gave Kelsi one last look before taking in a deep breath to try to slow down her heart moments before stepping onto the stage.

There was almost a collective gasp from the crowd as Gabriella walked out in her dress that ended about mid-thigh, an outfit that was uncharacteristically her but fit Gabriella's image as a singer in a band rather well. To ignore the stares she knew were focused on her, Gabriella turned her attention to Martha as the music started up again and Gabriella prepared herself to jump in at the chorus which came fast.

Despite her nerves, Gabriella found it rather easy to follow Martha's lead and began getting into it by the time the second chorus came around.

_Easy for a good girl to go bad  
And once we're gone, gone  
There's belief, we're gone forever_

_Don't be the reason, don't be the reason  
You better learn how to treat us right  
'Cause once a good girl goes bad  
We die forever_

Troy had been chatting with Chad, Jason, and Zeke when Martha made Gabriella's introduction as part of the band but had thought he had misheard her. When Gabriella showed up moments later on the stage in that dress that highlighted her curves though, Troy could have sworn that he had died and gone to heaven. To say Gabriella looked stunning would be doing her a great disservice but that adjective along with sexy, hot, sultry and exotic all ran through his mind as he stood there, not hearing anything anyone else was saying, focusing only on her singing.

It wasn't until the third chorus though when Gabriella jumped in again to do the backup singing for Martha that Troy began truly hearing the lyrics, shifting a bit uncomfortably as his brain began scrutinizing the words and wondering if Gabriella was trying to send him a message.

He jerked as Chad punched him playfully in the shoulder. "You never mentioned Gabriella could sing! She looks pretty hot up there on the stage man!"

Absently nodding, Troy turned his attention on Zeke who was still clapping with Jason. "Zeke, was that for me? That couldn't be, right?"

"Huh?" Zeke stopped clapping and moved closer to Troy, barely having heard his earlier words. "What are you talking about dude?"

"Was she warning me? Gabriella? That she's about to slip through my fingers still? I thought we were doing better Zeke!"

A light bulb turned on for Zeke that illuminated the situation at hand. "Troy, that song has been part of Martha's set for a while. I've heard her sing _Good Girl Gone Bad_ before Gabriella joined at rehearsals. That's what's cool about the band, they cover a lot of different types of music and also make it their own too."

"You sure?"

The pain and doubt Zeke heard in Troy's voice made it even more clear how invested Troy now was with Gabriella. "I'm pretty sure but you should ask her yourself if you really want to know."

Troy nodded, giving Zeke a grateful look before he turned his attention back to the stage where Gabriella was now trading microphone stands with Martha. "Is she actually singing lead?"

His question went unanswered as all four guys watched what was unfolding up there on the stage, illuminated by all of the special lights from above.

As Gabriella neared the main microphone stand, front and center, she nervously glanced over her shoulder at Martha who gave her a thumbs up accompanied by a huge grin. With another deep breath, Gabriella finally stepped up to the microphone which was the signal to the band to start playing the first few notes of _Self Inflicted_.

Closing her eyes, Gabriella forced herself to focus on the music and that alone while her right foot started to tap with the beats. When she opened her eyes again seconds later, her gaze swept the crowd and stopped only on a pair of cerulean eyes trained solely on her as she sang.

_Remember when I dove into the crowd  
And I got a bloody knee under my skin, a mark from wiping out  
It brings back the memories  
Every bone's been broken  
But my heart is still wide open_

_I can't stop  
Don't care if I lose  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
I'm going down in flames for you  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
One more thing I'm addicted to_

_With each scar there's a map that tells a story  
What a souvenir of Young love's like, jumping out an airplane  
Riding a tidal wave on an ocean of emotion  
My heart rips me wide open_

_I can't stop  
Don't care if I lose  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
I'm going down in flames for you  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
One more thing I'm addicted to_

Everything Troy was seeing and hearing surprised him. He was surprised that Gabriella was singing a fast, almost rock like song, instead of a ballad which he mostly linked to her in his mind. The fact that Gabriella had joined the band period and was singing lead to boot was another surprise. Her whole image up there, attitude and attire both, also surprised him. The biggest surprise though was that Gabriella was singing with so much emotion in her voice and was looking almost solely at him, making his heart beat a million times faster than the first time he saw her first step onto that stage.

_And I cover up these scars  
(We'll make it we'll make it but we break it)  
And I can't stop seeing stars  
(lets hope not die)  
Whenever you're around  
Around_

_I can't stop  
Don't care if I lose  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
I'm going down in flames for you  
Oohhh you are the weapon I choose  
These wounds are self inflicted  
One more thing I'm addicted to_

_I can't stop, no I can stop  
No I can't stop  
Ohh Ohh Ohh Ohh  
Ohh I'm going out in flames  
Ohh I'm going down in flames  
Ohhhh  
Baby you are the weapon I choose  
Baby you are the weapon I choose..._

When the final notes played, Gabriella slowly stepped away from the microphone, stunned she actually just sang in front of all her peers and that there was actual clapping. A part of her was also shocked by how bold she was to sing something like _Self Inflicted_ not only in front of her peers but in front of the very guy, practically _to_ the guy actually, that she had come to slowly realize she really had chosen, a long time ago even when she wouldn't readily acknowledge it freely after everything that had happened.

Putting a well placed smile on her face, Gabriella murmured her gratitude into the microphone after stepping up to it once again before high fiving Martha on her way off the stage, seeing the other band members give her silent congratulations as well before they started playing the next song.

Immediately Gabriella was surrounded by her other girlfriends, Kelsi being the first to hug her followed shortly by Sharpay and Taylor, both of whom were squealing.

"Holy shit Gabriella, you look and sound HOT!" Sharpay exclaimed. "What the hell have you been doing hiding both your body and voice all these years?"

"Pay is right, you look stunning. Everyone was so blown away by your performance, honest!" Taylor added, smirking a little as she saw Gabriella fidget with the bottom of her dress as she attempted to pull it down some more. "You took a big risk tonight and it so paid off!"

"No shit, I bet every girl in here is slapping their date silly for drooling over you, including the bitch Nicole who has been looking mighty flirty with Tyler I have to say."

This news surprised Gabriella. "They both are here tonight?"

Taylor nodded, wondering what Gabriella was really thinking of this revelation. "Tyler is a brother so he probably had to be here and Nicole came because she knew this would be the hot party around right now. There's some other party on Greek Row but as you can see most everyone is here."

"A sure sign that you'll have a lot of profits to show for your project and for the frat to donate then," Kelsi stated, thinking of how much money the bar would make alone that night. "Come on, let's get you changed."

Gabriella anxiously nodded. "Thanks, totally not comfortable in this."

Before Kelsi and Gabriella could move towards the room where Gabriella's change of clothes were, Gabriella felt a hand circle around her right upper arm and turned to see Sharpay looking back at her, shaking her head. "What?"

"You? Change out of that? Hell no little lady," Sharpay expressed, relieved to see Taylor agree with her. "We cannot in good conscience let you do that tonight."

"But it was just a stage presence thing, I can't go out and run the rest of the night looking like, well, this!"

"Why the hell not?" Taylor asked. "Sharpay herself said you look hot and you know she doesn't give out those compliments freely."

With a laugh, Sharpay added, "And I more than meant it tonight. I'm proud of you for pulling this look together too all on your own without my intervention. No missy, you are not changing out of that outfit. Besides, I think I saw Troy drooling over you the most out of all the guys out there."

"Troy?" Gabriella squeaked, forcing a few coughs to try to cover it up. "Nah, he has been so busy with the event and all the girls that keep approaching him like now."

The three other girls turned their attention in the direction Gabriella was now looking to see a few sorority girls circling Troy and Zeke but found it more entertaining that instead of putting on the charm as Troy usually did in this type of situation, Troy was appearing to be nice but not all that flirty. He was talking to them, but his eyes were busy looking not at the sorority girls but instead searching the crowd, stopping as he looked in their direction. Even from that distance, it wasn't lost on any of the four females the intensity in those blue eyes as they focused on Gabriella once again, making her cheeks warm.

"Talk about eye sex," Sharpay commented, looking now at Troy and Gabriella alternatively. "You were so having eye sex when you were up on stage too!"

"What?" Gabriella sputtered, tearing her eyes away from Troy to look at Sharpay with alarm in her eyes. "I was not!"

"Oh, you so were! Just admit it! There's nothing wrong with it. In fact, it's rather hot, not going to lie," Sharpay returned, crossing her arms across her chest as she looked back at a now nervous looking Gabriella. "And to think you were trying to play off not even seeing him earlier while you were singing too. I saw that look on your face and couldn't tell who you were looking at. I should have known though!"

"You were staring rather intently at someone in the crowd Gabriella," Taylor threw in, hating to choose a side but knowing Sharpay was so right. "We're your girlfriends, you can be truthful with us."

"Maybe she just wants to keep this private," Kelsi added, trying to protect Gabriella and her growing feelings from their two more aggressive friends. "She doesn't have to tell us anything if she doesn't want to."

Sharpay groaned, shaking her head. "Stop always protecting her Kels! Come on Gabriella, tell us the truth! You have been officially swept away by Troy Bolton, right?"

After looking at the faces of all three of her friends, Gabriela sighed, knowing that although Kelsi was trying to help her out, there was no escaping telling them how she really felt. "Maybe…"

Gabriella didn't get much farther than that before Sharpay, Taylor, and Kelsi all started squealing in excitement with a few "I knew it" and "I told you so" phrases being thrown around. Before Gabriella knew it, she was being swept away into the room where her clothes were but only to supply her friends with the information on her feelings that they demanded to know. Fortunately for Gabriella she had the excuse that she had to check on the event for her project so she was allowed out after only ten minutes, still wearing her red and black dress, but grateful that although her friends may tease her for her feelings, she had such great friends who supported her in everything.

* * *

Some time had passed since Troy had last seen Gabriella disappear with her friends. The band had since wrapped up to give way to the best DJ in the area as far as Troy was concerned. He was pleased that the band made such a great impression, hoping that this would give them more buzz that they needed to get more gigs, especially if Gabriella was now part of it. If she was, Troy already knew that so long as there was no curfew or game that interfered that he would be there, even to see her just sing backup.

The president of Zeta Theta Mu, Troy's little brother in the frat actually, Brad McGillis, had given Troy the great news about ten minutes ago that the project was officially a success with at least a couple of hundred dollars now in profit between the door and bar numbers. Troy had thanked Brad and rushed to tell Zeke who shared a victory high five with Troy. Now, both Zeke and Troy were scanning the crowd for their third team member, both mystified when they couldn't find her.

Along the way Troy had several girls approach him but his focus was on finding Gabriella, getting worried when neither he or Zeke spotted her at all. When Troy split up from Zeke to look around the bar area for Gabriella while Zeke checked the rooftop, his stomach turned as he heard Tyler's and Nicole's voices together in a conversation, stopping to eavesdrop.

"Can you believe that bitch? I knew that picture wasn't far off," Nicole spat out, shaking her head as she sipped the Cosmo in her right hand. "She looked like trash up there and Troy is stupid enough to eat up that whole image."

"Hey, I'm not going to lie to you. Gabriella looked rather fine up there. I think I may just have to check her out at their next gig," Tyler admitted, getting a sharp jab and glare from Nicole. "What? Chicky, I've never lied to you and I'm not going to now."

Nicole let out a frustrated sound. "I thought you were acting all into her to creep her out and to piss off Troy, not that you were really into her!"

Tyler shrugged. "That's the way it has started and is still the story now but if I get some type of enjoyment out of this, may as well. What's wrong Nicole? Jealous?"

"Please, you aren't that good of a fuck for that," Nicole got out. "Troy on the other hand…"

Troy had heard enough and walked away, not needing anymore to already know what was going on. He had long suspected that Nicole would go after Tyler to use him for her means just as she had used Troy, something he was still ashamed of, but the task tonight was not to figure out what they were up to. In fact, Troy knew he didn't need to know for certain because he'd never let either of them hurt Gabriella again or hurt what Troy hoped was steadily growing yet again between them.

Instead, Troy got a great idea, an idea to draw Gabriella out of wherever she was, most likely working hard to make sure tonight went well, coordinating something he and Zeke probably forgot all about. With a smile on his face, Troy made his way towards the stage to make sure that their peers, especially Greek Row, recognized what a light Gabriella really was.

While the current song neared its end, Troy jumped up onto the stage and talked to the DJ who readily gave him a microphone and quieted the next song so Troy could grab everyone's attention in the club.

"All right! How's it going everyone? Having a good time?" Troy grinned as he heard a loud, positive, cumulative answer from the crowd, seeing Brad and a few of the other brothers raise beers to him from the side of the club they were standing on. "Awesome! Well I wanted to thank each and every one of you on behalf of not only Zeta Theta Mu but also, and more importantly, on behalf of my team members for making tonight such a success! We still have a couple of hours left to continue having a great time but we've already exceeded our expectations and know that our charities will be more than grateful with the proceeds they will be getting tonight."

Troy paused as he gathered his thoughts for what he was about to say next, spotting Zeke who was nearby standing with his arm wrapped around Sharpay's waist while they hung out with Chad and Taylor, along with Kelsi and Ryan. "I'd like to actually call my team members, Zeke Baylor and Gabriella Montez, up to the stage. Without both of these amazingly hard working people this event would not be what it turned out to be. Zeke has been great with coming up with fantastic ideas while Gabriella has really used her phenomenal organizational skills for all the small things that matter the most and would have no doubt been forgotten by both me and Zeke. Gabriella and Zeke, come on up!"

Zeke easily untangled himself after a shared kiss with Sharpay to come up on stage but Troy still didn't see any sign of Gabriella. "Gabriella?"

Just as Troy was about to run off the stage to tear the club apart until he found her, Gabriella emerged through the front doors. "Ah, there you are. Come on up!" Gabriella clearly didn't want to though and shook her head, prompting some pleading from Troy, much to the amusement of the crowd. "Come on Angel, it's time you take some credit for your amazing work for tonight! I'll come to you and have you sing again if you don't. How would you like that everyone? Do we want to hear another song by this beautiful angel?"

Shouts of agreement and clapping were heard, making Troy chuckle as he saw Gabriella quickly walk towards the stage while she shook her head at him. When she finally reached him she leaned over to him whispering, "You are incorrigible CP, you know that?"

"Nah, but now is not the time to talk about that." Troy grinned at Gabriella as she smiled back at him before he turned his attention back on the crowd. "All right, now that I have my teammates up here with me, we would all like to also thank the owner and manager of Starlight and the amazing staff for having us here and letting us put our project to the test. The brothers of Zeta Theta Mu, you all rock and I know our charities are going to be more than happy with what we all pulled off tonight. To our friends who volunteered their time, a big heartfelt thank you. We'll get you back, no worries."

After the clapping died down, including Troy's, Zeke's, and Gabriella's own applause, Troy concluded his little impromptu speech. "So, everyone, want to hear another song sung by Gabriella?" When there was applause again, Troy looked over to Gabriella who shook her head. "See? They love you, just not as much as I do."

A loud yell of "GET A ROOM!" was heard that made the crowd laugh, Troy almost certain the voice belonged to his best friend Chad.

Staring at the microphone thrust out at her, Gabriella glanced up at Troy, knowing her cheeks were warming even more at the intense look in his eyes. Reluctantly she took it, forcing her attention back to the crowd who were still cheering. "Umm, thank you everyone for the warm welcome and for coming out. As Troy mentioned we really appreciate all of you being here and helping us and Zeta Theta Mu to have a more than successful night here at Starlight. As for hearing me sing again, come on out next time to the band's next gig! There will be plenty more of the band to come! Thanks everyone!"

There was some booing but mostly applause for her words. Gabriella handed the microphone back to the DJ who started pumping the music nice and loud once again as Zeke led the way off the stage, Troy's left hand straying to press against Gabriella's lower back as he walked beside her.

Once the trio made their way to their friends, the whole group moved upstairs to the rooftop where it was also busy but was a tad quieter. Troy and Chad left the rest of the group to get drinks for everyone with Ryan's help but were back within minutes thanks to the bartender giving them priority over the others waiting.

"Guess working your ass off for tonight has its advantages like that huh?" Ryan murmured, getting a nod from Troy as they walked back to their friends.

Troy handed Zeke his bottled beer before handing Gabriella her bottled water which she gratefully took. "So where did you run off to? I was worried something happened to you when you were nowhere to be seen before my little announcement."

"Oh, sorry. I was outside making sure some of the Kappa Phi Sigma sisters got into a cab all right. I saw them trying to leave with car keys in their hand and knew I couldn't let them," Gabriella explained, sipping on the cold water, relishing the way it felt as it traveled down her throat.

"You seem to never cease to amaze me, especially tonight, you know that Angel?"

"Huh?"

"First the singing," Troy explained, sipping his own beer, "and then helping out girls who practically chased you out of Kappa Phi Sigma. A lesser person would have left them to get into that car to go to their fiery death, but not you. That's one of the things I love about you Gabriella, your pure heart, your forgiving spirit."

Swallowing, Gabriella stared back at Troy. "You keep saying love around me Troy. That's not a word that is said lightly by me."

Troy nodded his understanding, searching her face, especially her mocha orbs, to see if his speaking his feelings really bothered her. "I know and I understand that. It's not said lightly by me either and I mean it. I first uttered it to someone other than you but about you this year and I think it's only fitting that I say it to you, to your face. I really and truly am in love with you Gabriella."

When Troy reached out a hand to cup Gabriella's cheek, she leaned into it and closed her eyes, savoring the warmth and his touch. When she opened her eyes, seeing the tenderness in those cerulean eyes melted Gabriella. It made her feel as if every painful moment she went through with and without Troy was worth it, to be here in this moment with him and know, to feel, as if she really knew this man she was falling for.

"Come on you two lovebirds! It's time to go dance!" Sharpay called out as she led Zeke away to the dance floor, the others following as well, including Jason who was already cruising the groups of women spread out around the rooftop.

Sighing, knowing that the moment was broken, Troy held out his hand to Gabriella. "Can I have this dance?"

Gabriella smiled, screwing the cap back onto her water bottle and nodding as she took his hand and followed Troy out to join their friends.

At first the group danced together as one big group, Martha, who had joined them with a few of the other band members and Jason, leading the way through a couple of songs. Slowly though the group dispersed, especially when Zeke, Gabriella, and Troy left them for a little while to check on the progress of everything, ensuring the project night was still going well, which it was.

It was when Troy and Gabriella made it back to the rooftop, under the clear night with the stars shining above, that Troy and Gabriella really got their true first moment alone.

Despite the energetic music filling the air around them, Gabriella slowed her movements and slowly turned her body that was pressed up against Troy's front to face him, startling both of them as she linked her hands behind his neck, having long ago finished her water as he had his beer. Without hesitation, Troy clasped his own hands together and rested them against her lower back, his body setting the slower rhythm in which they now moved against the fast pace around them.

Neither said anything, neither dared. Both were being swallowed alive by the electricity around them, burning from each other's touches, at the multiple points of which their bodies met each other's, but craving more.

Gabriella's mind thought of everything they had gone through in the past months, everything that led them to this point. She thought of even tonight, the way Troy seemed to only have eyes for her while he brushed off every other girl, whether he was working for the project or just hanging out with his buddies. A tiny part of her brain echoed her older sister's words from just the other night, to take the chance or live to regret it. "Troy?"

Her voice in that one syllable called to Troy's heart, speeding it up even more, instinctively knowing that something had changed within her. "Gabriella?"

Pushing aside her shyness, her nervousness, Gabriella gathered all the courage she could. "Troy, I love you too."

No five words had ever meant as much to Troy as these five words meant coming from Gabriella. His breath hitched, his heart stopped, and the world stilled, fading away into blackness so that it was only him and Gabriella, arms wrapped around each other, hearts beating in time together. And then, suddenly, when she smiled at him, her words echoed in her eyes, Troy felt himself almost fly, bringing Gabriella along with him. "You do? You really do?"

Gabriella's charming giggle filled his ears as she nodded. "I do, I really do. I love you Troy."

"I love you too Gabriella, my sweet angel," Troy murmured, leaning his head down and pressing his lips against hers, tentatively at first and then with more passion as he unwrapped his arms around her to place his hands on each side of her face, holding her there.

Time continued flying by them as their kisses continued, deepening and traveling, but always bringing them closer together with each millisecond.

Troy reluctantly pulled away and leaned his forehead against Gabriella's, feeling a sense of relief to know they finally had made it to a place he had so desperately worked for them to return to, relieved to know that she wanted to be there too. He pulled her body even closer to his as he wrapped his arms around her again, her own slipping around his waist as she laid her head against his chest, together staring up at the sky, thanking the same star they had seen earlier in the week for making their wishes come true.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Troy had a smile on his face from the moment he woke up that morning and it hadn't left since. If anything, it had grown bigger with every step as he made his way up the sidewalk towards Gabriella's place a little before 11:00 on Friday morning.

Troy rang the doorbell and took a step back, waiting impatiently for the door to open. His heart was racing as he stood there, thoughts of the previous night still in the forefront of his mind. Everyone had gotten home in the early morning hours the night before after the club had died down and the group had made sure things were cleaned up. So after opting to sleep in on Friday morning, Troy, Gabriella, and Zeke had decided they would meet up for lunch around noon. And given what happened the night before, Troy had to stop himself from showing up at Gabriella's place hours earlier.

The door swung open and Troy's face lit up, seeing the beautiful brunette in the doorway. "Hey!"

"Good morning beautiful," Troy charmingly greeted, pulling a small bouquet of pink and white tulips from behind his back and holding them out to her.

Gabriella blushed as she accepted them, but her blush deepened even more when Troy leaned forward and placed a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth. "What are the flowers for?"

Troy shrugged, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him. "Since when does a guy need a reason to give a beautiful girl some flowers?"

With her cheeks flushing pink once more, Gabriella fought the urge to melt into his charm. "Alright Romeo, really, stop trying to make me blush and answer the question."

"But Angel, you're gorgeous when you blush."

"Troy…," Gabriella warned in a playful tone, leaning back when he tried to silence her with a kiss.

Chuckling at her persistence, Troy finally caved, tugging her body so it was right up against his once more. "Okay fine," Troy pushed his breath out through his lips in an exaggerated sigh, "there are two reasons for the flowers. You did such an amazing job last night at everything that I felt you deserved them. But mainly," Troy added in a soft whisper, his eyes never straying from hers, "I just thought the girl I love should have some beautiful flowers."

Being at a loss for words, Gabriella chose to show her gratitude to Troy in a different manner, her right hand moving up to cup the back of his neck hesitantly, pulling Troy's lips to hers in a sweet kiss.

They pulled apart a few moments later, but kept their foreheads resting together, both completely oblivious to anything around them. "Not that I mind at all Angel, but what was that for?"

Gabriella looked down nervously, opting to play with the collar of his shirt instead of looking at his face. "Since when does a girl need a reason to kiss a handsome guy?"

When Gabriella looked up at Troy from underneath her eyelashes, still fiddling with his collar, Troy felt a smirk tug at his lips. "Using my words against me, huh?"

"Maybe," Gabriella giggled before being silenced by Troy's lips once more.

"So are you going to let me in, or are we just going to stand out here and make out?" Troy asked in a playful tone, wincing when Gabriella punched him in the shoulder. "Because we can make out if you want, I just thought you didn't want to give your new neighbors a show."

"Troy!" Gabriella scolded above his chuckles, grabbing his forearm and tugging him inside.

"Come on Angel, you know you love me," Troy teased, punctuating his remark with a soft kiss just below her ear, leaving a trail of kisses down her jaw until his lips met hers, her free hand settling on his shoulder while one of his tangled in her hair and the other lightly gripped her waist.

When air became a necessity, the two separated, but Gabriella wasted no time, immediately burying her face in his chest while she wrapped her arms around his back, careful not to crush the tulips. Troy couldn't resist the urge to wrap his own arms around her, dropping a kiss to the top of her hair.

The two relaxed into each other's embrace, both being perfectly content in that position, holding onto the other for a few minutes. It was only the sound of Gabriella's cell phone that broke them apart, Troy reluctantly loosening his grip on Gabriella.

"Sorry," Gabriella almost whispered, brushing her lips against the underside of Troy's jaw before walking over to retrieve her phone.

Troy made his way towards the kitchen and took a seat at the table, smiling at Gabriella who mouthed another apology to him before finishing up her conversation.

"That was Zeke," Gabriella informed him, setting her phone back down before placing the tulips on the counter and grabbing a vase to fill it with water at the sink.

"He still meeting us for lunch?"

Gabriella nodded, picking up the bouquet of tulips and placing them in the vase on the counter beside the sink. "Yep, I told him we'd meet him at the cafeteria at 12:30. Does that work?"

Without saying a word, Troy took a few strides towards Gabriella, his arms smoothly slipping around her and caging her in at the sink, brushing his lips against her cheek. "Sounds good to me. That means we have plenty of time before we have to head over there."

Gabriella felt the butterflies erupt in her stomach the moment Troy's lips touched her skin, and she immediately relaxed more into him, her head resting back against his shoulder while she looked up at him. "Thank you for the flowers. They're beautiful. Tulips are my favorite."

Gabriella watched as Troy grinned slightly before his eyes drifted from hers to her lips and then back up to her eyes again. Unable to resist any longer, Troy connected their lips, his hands coming to rest on her waist while her left hand came up to tangle in his hair, holding him there as their kiss grew more passionate.

Troy released her lips a few moments later, wasting no time in pressing a lingering kiss to the side of her head. Gabriella shyly smiled up at him before interlacing their fingers and pulling him towards the couch in the next room.

Sitting down on the couch, the two wasted no time snuggling into each other, using up very little space on the couch. Leaning on Troy's shoulder while his fingers ran soothingly through her curls, Gabriella couldn't help the wide smile that formed on her face.

"What's the smile for?" Troy asked, a hint of amusement in his tone.

Gabriella immediately blushed, realizing she'd been caught, choosing to look at the design on Troy's shirt and trace her fingers over it rather than look at his face. "I don't know, I guess I'm just really happy."

"I am too Angel," Troy sighed, dropping a kiss to her hair as she snuggled more into his side. "I don't think I've told you enough, but you did such an amazing job last night, overall for the project but especially with your debut with the band."

"I was so nervous," Gabriella admitted shyly.

"Well, you had no need to be," Troy sincerely said. "Seriously, I had no idea you could sing like that."

"Thanks. I still don't even know how I did it. I was worried I'd trip on stage or something and make a fool of myself."

"Are you kidding me? Angel, you were a natural up there!"

"I don't know about that…" Gabriella trailed off, not as confident in herself as Troy was.

"Gabi, trust me, you were incredible last night. You're going to sing with them again, right?"

Gabriella nodded against his chest, "The Friday we get back from Christmas break. Do you want to come?"

"Will you be wearing the same thing you wore last night?" Troy cheekily asked, earning a punch on his arm from Gabriella.

"Troy! I can't believe you said that."

"Sorry Angel," Troy mumbled through his laughter, wrapping his arm around her shoulder so he could hug her to him. "You did look absolutely gorgeous though last night. But you know I'll be there, as long as we don't have a game that night. Speaking of games, are you going to be there tonight?"

"Of course! I have to work tonight till 7:00, so I'll miss the first few minutes, but I'll be there."

"What are you doing after the game?"

"Nothing planned yet, why?" Gabriella asked, leaning back so she could look up at him.

"Want to grab some food with me afterwards, then maybe come back here?" Gabriella grinned seeing the hint of nervousness in Troy as he brought his hand up to rub the back of his neck. "It's okay if you don't want to. Feel free to say no if you have studying to do with finals this week. I know you gotta get those perfect scores," Troy finished his rambling, pinching her waist, causing her to jump.

"Keep teasing me and I'll make you come back here and study after your game," Gabriella teased.

Her threat didn't have the intended effect on Troy though, who got a devious look on his face as he teased her back. "You know I wouldn't mind a 'study date' with you Angel. Tell me, this is a typical study date right? One that involves us both doing very little studying and a lot of kissing?" Troy finished in a whisper against her ear, punctuating it with a tantalizing kiss below her ear.

Gabriella felt her skin tingle at Troy's touch, and couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips. When she hadn't answered a few moments later, Troy felt the need to probe a bit further.

"Re-thinking the study date idea? Or did I put you at a loss for words?"

"You're so cocky sometimes," Gabriella told him with a playful shove.

"You love it."

Gabriella just rolled her eyes, choosing to answer his first question and ignore his other comments. "A late dinner and then coming back here after the game sound like a good plan. I don't have much studying to do tonight because unlike _some_ people I don't procrastinate."

"Coming back here? Does that involve any making out?" Troy ribbed her.

Gabriella giggled at his persistence. "Is that all you care about CP?"

"Of course not," Troy replied quickly. "But I do really enjoy kissing you. You can't tell me you don't enjoy it too."

"A little," Gabriella admitted shyly.

Troy smiled widely at her when her eyes finally drifted up and locked on his. Smirking at her, Troy dipped his head down so his lips were inches from hers, "Speaking of kissing…we still have an hour alone before we have to leave, so I say we spend that time wisely…" Troy trailed before finally capturing her lips with his.

* * *

"Sorry we're late," Gabriella apologized to Zeke as she sat down across from him in the chair Troy had pulled out for her, being sure to send a warning look to Troy who snickered at her apology.

Zeke curiously looked at Troy before looking back at Gabriella. "It's no big deal. I've only been waiting a couple minutes anyways."

"Well we would have been here sooner, but Gabi slept in and took awhile to get ready."

Gabriella's jaw dropped in disbelief while she looked at a beaming Troy, who seemed very entertained by his teasing. "I can't believe you are blaming me! We both know this was your fault."

"My fault?"

"Yes, your fault! If you hadn't shown up at my place this morning, I wouldn't have ever been late."

Very smoothly, Troy slipped his arm around the back of Gabriella's chair and moved close enough to whisper in her ear. "Blame me all you want, but I know that we both very much enjoyed that I showed up at your place this morning."

Zeke watched the two as they flirted back and forth. He'd seen them grow closer over the past couple of weeks, and even though he was furious with Troy not too long before, he'd begun to realize lately that Troy was different than he thought. The Troy he was seeing now was a little closer to the Troy he'd known in high school. He was more cocky than he was in high school, but at least his closed, player-like personality was beginning to fade. And Zeke could tell that Troy genuinely cared for Gabriella. He wasn't going to stand in the way of the happiness of his two best friends, especially now as the both Troy and Gabriella knew quite a bit about each other that they had missed out on before, the first time.

"As much as I'm enjoying this little exchange," Zeke interrupted, earning their attention, "we don't have much time before our lunch is over so we should probably get started on our project."

"Right, so how do we want to do this?" Gabriella asked, pulling out her laptop and setting it on the table next to them. "I have the PowerPoint presentation pretty much finished, and then we have the handouts for the class completed as well."

"Look at you," Troy beamed at her. "I thought we were all going to finish that up tomorrow."

"I had some extra time," Gabriella shrugged. "Besides, you both took care of a lot of the planning for the other night, especially you, Troy. I just thought I should contribute a little more."

"You have contributed a lot Gabs," Zeke interjected. "But, thank you for finishing that up for us."

"You're welcome."

"Okay, so since the visuals and all are finished, now we just need to figure out who's presenting what, right?" Troy asked.

"Right. I was thinking we can pretty much split it all three ways. So we just need to decide on which sections we want to present and how we want to do it."

The two guys nodded, both looking at the screen along with Gabriella as they all spent the rest of their lunch hammering out the details of the project.

Forty minutes later, when their lunch was finished and the details were figured out, the three stood up and made their way out of the cafeteria, stopping in front of it.

"So we can meet up tomorrow and Wednesday night to run through the presentation a few times," Gabriella suggested.

"Sounds great," Zeke agreed. "I have to go to class, what are you two up to?"

"I have work pretty soon here."

"And I am going to go back to my room and get some stuff before heading over to the gym to do some early shoot around for tonight's game."

"Alright, well I'd better take off," Zeke said, pounding fists with Troy before wrapping Gabriella in a hug.

"Me too," Gabriella sighed, glancing at the time.

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit," Troy told Gabriella, his hand enveloping hers as he pulled her to him and brushed a soft kiss to her lips before releasing her with a smile, the kiss not missed at all by Zeke who made a mental note to talk to Troy later that night.

* * *

The gymnasium had been roaring since the start of the game about thirty minutes earlier. The crowd was so loud from the office that Gabriella knew it had to be near deafening in the actual gym. No surprise there though since they were playing a rival school that night.

Pushing open the gym doors, Gabriella stepped inside and instantly became overwhelmed. The stands were completely full and almost everyone was on their feet as the teams raced back and forth on the court.

A collective groan from the crowd and a loud shriek of the whistle drew Gabriella's attention to the court. She felt a pang in her chest and a frown appeared on her face when she spotted Troy near center court, his eyes dark with anger as he engaged in a heated argument with the referee.

"Foul on number fourteen, Troy Bolton. His second personal, and the seventh team foul. Hawks to shoot one and one for the penalty."

As the announcer finished talking, Gabriella heard her name being called and glanced up into the student section to see Taylor and Sharpay a few rows up. Stepping through the rows of students, Gabriella weaved her way towards her two friends.

"How are we doing?" Gabriella asked after giving them each a hug.

"Not great," Taylor told her, which Gabriella gathered, looking up at the scoreboard to see they were down by ten with four minutes left in the first half.

"Troy looks pretty upset. How's he doing?"

Sharpay shook her head leaning a little closer so that Gabriella could hear her as the crowd started cheering loudly once more. "He's been struggling since the game began. He hasn't made a shot yet and he has turned the ball over a few times."

"He looks extremely frustrated with himself."

"He does, but maybe you being here will give him the extra boost he needs," Sharpay lightly teased, her elbow playfully jabbing Gabriella's arm. "What? It's true! Don't think I don't know that something is going on between the two of you again. I saw how close you were at the club last night. Oh, and the eye sex! Care to share Gabi?"

"Not really," Gabriella told her, giggling at Sharpay's immediate glare.

"But Gaaaabi," Sharpay whined.

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella re-focused on the game, her eyes lighting up as Troy caught sight of her and smiled. Gabriella waved at him and smiled back, completely oblivious to the giddy looks coming from her two friends next to her.

"You _cannot_ tell me that there is nothing going on," Sharpay argued, pulling Gabriella out of her daze. "Lie all you want Gabriella Montez, but I _know_ all and I _know_ something has happened between the two of you."

"You know all, huh?" Gabriella questioned back with a slight smirk.

"Of course!"

"Then tell me what the last two shots were that Troy just made," Gabriella challenged, clapping her hands as Troy trotted back up the court, exchanging a high-five with Chad.

"Umm…"

"Point proven. You don't know all, and I'm not talking at all about Troy and me right now."

"Why not?" Sharpay whined again causing Taylor to just roll her eyes in amusement.

"Because," Gabriella told her, taking a moment to take her eyes off the game to look Sharpay in the eyes, "I'm here to watch Troy start having an amazing game and to cheer my friends on to victory, not to have any girl talk."

"But girl talk is way better than this stupid basketball crap," Sharpay playfully pouted.

"I'll be sure to tell Zeke and the rest of the guys that later," Taylor interjected, much to Gabriella's delight and Sharpay's displeasure.

Gabriella just smirked at Sharpay before returning her attention to the game in front of her, mainly on the shaggy brown-haired, blue-eyed guy currently dribbling the ball upcourt, who'd suddenly scored four baskets in a row bringing his team back into the game. As Troy darted into the key and scored a teardrop shot over the center, he ran back up the court, his eyes never leaving Gabriella's. Nodding at her, Troy smiled and sent her a wink, the small gesture showing Gabriella that not only had he picked up his game but that also that pickup was courtesy of her being there for him.

* * *

It was a beautiful night in Southern California as Troy and Gabriella walked hand-in-hand up the sidewalk towards her house. After a brilliant opening five minutes of the second half by Troy and his team, they had taken the lead and never looked back, winning the game by a comfortable twenty points. Immediately after the game, Troy quickly showered and changed, opting out of attending a hang out at the frat that night to instead spend time with the girl on his arm.

Troy had taken her to a small, but very popular Mexican food place downtown that night, and then had driven her back to her place so they could hang out for awhile.

"You played great tonight," Gabriella spoke up quietly, her left arm wrapping around Troy's, which was currently holding her right hand.

"Thanks Angel. I'm glad you ended up making it tonight. I was playing a pretty shitty game until you showed up, and I don't think we would have won if I continued to play like that."

"You're too great of a player to go down without a fight though Troy. Plus, you had your whole team backing you up. I'm sure you guys would have turned it around."

"Still though, I'm going to dub you as my good luck charm," Troy told her with a breathtaking smile as he opened up the front door for her to go through after she unlocked it. "From now on, your presence is required at every one of my games."

"Every game?" Troy nodded. "Why would I want to spend two hours a night, a few times a week, watching ten sweaty guys run back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and-," Gabriella's words caught in her throat as she found herself pinned against one of the walls in the entryway with Troy leaning over her, one hand on her waist and the other up on the wall above her head.

"Because Angel," Troy whispered huskily, "I am one of those guys running up and down the court, and we both know that you don't mind watching me one bit, sweaty or not."

Not giving her a chance to respond at all, Troy brought his lips down to hers the rest of the way, her hands bunching in his shirt as his lips gently massaged hers. Gabriella felt herself get lost in the intensity of the kiss for a few moments, but as Troy pulled her closer to him, Gabriella pulled back, not wanting to go too far.

"Sorry," Troy whispered.

"It's okay, I just don't want to take things too fast. I've never really been in a serious relationship before. I just want this to work," Gabriella told him, her eyes drifting down to her feet, hoping Troy wasn't upset with her decision. Since the previous night, things had progressed physically between them, and they both had gotten caught up in the moment multiple times. Gabriella really did love him though and the last thing she wanted was for things to go wrong for the two of them again this time around.

Troy surprised her though, placing his fingers under her chin and tilting her head up so he could look into her eyes. "Angel, I love you. We'll take this at whatever speed you are comfortable with, okay? Trust me, I'm not going anywhere," Troy assured her.

Pressing his lips to her forehead, Troy smiled and pulled her into a hug. "You want to go back outside?"

"Sure, let me just put my things upstairs?"

"Of course, I'll meet you back down here," Troy told her, pecking her lips once more before releasing her from his grasp.

Troy watched her trek up the stairs before heading into the kitchen, slightly surprised to see Zeke sitting there at the kitchen table.

"Hey man, how's it going? I thought you'd be out with Sharpay tonight."

Zeke shook his head. "She had a paper to write."

"Ahh, don't you love the end of the semester?"

"Yeah, it sucks," Zeke chuckled, watching Troy as he took a seat across from him. "Hey Troy, can I ask you something?"

"Sure dude, what's up?" Troy asked, not sure what exactly Zeke was going to say, but having a feeling he knew the subject matter.

"You and Gabriella," Zeke said, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. "What's going on between the two of you? I saw you kiss her today after lunch plus all the flirting. Are you serious about her?"

"Of course I am man," Troy immediately answered, not missing a beat. "Look, I know I've screwed up in the past with her, and I know that you are worried I will treat her like other girls I have dated since high school, but trust me…things are very different with her. I care a lot about her, and I am going to do everything I can to make sure she is not hurt again by me or anyone else. I know you don't have any reason really to believe me after what has happened, but you've seen how I've been the past few weeks. She's helped to change me man. I love her."

"You love her?" Zeke asked, the speech from Troy slightly taking him by surprise.

"I do."

Zeke just nodded, pounding fists with Troy before heading out of the kitchen and upstairs after he spied Gabriella coming back down to meet Troy. Zeke believed him completely. Sure, he could try to think up of a list of reasons why Troy shouldn't be with Gabriella, after all she was his best friend, almost like his own sister. That being said though, Zeke had seen how Troy had changed over the past few weeks with his own eyes, and like he'd decided earlier, he was not going to stand in the way this time.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Troy nervously cracked his knuckles as he paced back and forth outside the special meeting room the class met in for the day for all the final presentations. They were next up and Troy felt sick. Presenting was never a big deal before but knowing that this project's presentation would make them or break them, it intimidated him. In fact, this nervousness he was feeling, Troy was pretty sure this was worse than any basketball game or tournament he had been to and definitely much worse than the night he sat in his dorm room wondering if he would become a brother of Zeta Theta Mu.

Unaware of Troy's pacing, Zeke bounced on the balls of his feet, muttering to himself as he ran through an imaginary presentation in his mind where he saw the slides he was presenting on after Troy's introduction and their initial thoughts. It was Zeke's job to continue the momentum that Troy set into motion with how they implemented the project in reality. Although Zeke wasn't about to admit it, he felt the unsaid pressure on his shoulders as sure as if there were huge boulders on top of them. No, the pressure wasn't solely on him nor put on intentionally by his group members but Zeke knew that if he messed this up, they'd all suffer for it.

For her part, Gabriella leaned against the wall opposite the doorway to the meeting room, her fingers fiddling with the bottom of the suit jacket she was wearing. Her stomach was filled with butterflies but no bigger than before she went on stage almost one week ago. For some reason, Gabriella found herself actually feeling rather comfortable with what they were about to do, what they would be presenting. Usually Gabriella was never one for group projects but with Troy and Zeke by her side, she felt like they could easily conquer the world if they had to.

Gabriella was actually baffled when she realized moments later that the two men who were dressed in suits, waiting for their turn to present along with her, were clearly anxious, nervous, or something along those lines. Deciding it would be on her to pull the group together, Gabriella pushed off the wall and walked smoothly in the black heels she hardly wore and approached both of them, standing next to a muttering Zeke and waiting until Troy walked back towards them which he did moments later.

Putting her left hand out, Gabriella caught the sleeve of Troy's black suit jacket, tugging him to a stop. His head snapped up and he blinked a few times, seeming to only realize then that she was there and was trying to give him a reassuring look. "Gabi?"

"Tell me CP, why is it that I am the one that seems to be the only one confident in what we've done?" Gabriella asked, clearly seeing the uncertainty in his eyes before looking at Zeke who had stopped his quiet mumbling to look at them both. "Zeke, why did you get so dressed up to look so dashing along with Troy if you thought we were going to crash and burn?"

Troy was the first to answer, covering Gabriella's hand that was still on his arm with his own left hand, earning her attention again. "This is just so final Gabriella. We've worked how long on this project together? We've been through so much as a group for this project. Aren't you scared of how this is going to turn out? This is a huge majority of our grade for the semester!"

"Did you forget that you're talking to someone who takes pride in her academic record?" Gabriella teased, relieved when she heard Zeke chuckle while Troy managed a smirk.

"Hmm, you do have a point gorgeous. How is it that you're so nice and calm then?"

Shrugging her tiny shoulders, Gabriella replied, "Honestly, I think it's because I feel comfortable with you two by my side. I know we worked extremely hard on this, not to say no one else in our class did, but it's not a competition. If we all do great, we all get A's. All I know is that when our turn is up in the next few minutes, we will have done everything in our power to prepare and make this a success. Can't stress over what's out of our control right?"

Zeke listened to his best friend's words and nodded in agreement. "Guess you're right Gabs. Incredible how wise you can be sometimes."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella playfully nudged Zeke's side with her elbow, earning another low chuckle from him. "And here I was going to tell you that you looked handsome Zeke."

Seeing Zeke grin like a fool at Gabriella's words made Troy smile. "And what of me Angel? I thought you were supposed to have eyes only for someone else now."

Gabriella raised an eyebrow at this. "Really? Who would that be? I don't remember being exclusive with anyone…"

"Touché! Dude, she so got you there!" Zeke laughed, lightening the mood even more.

Before Troy could smartly come back with a response, the door to the meeting room opened and the teacher assistant's head popped out. "We're ready for you when you're ready."

"Thanks," Troy replied, feeling the light mood of moments before disappear. "All right, we ready?"

Eyes now focused on the door in front of them, Zeke nodded while Gabriella gave Troy a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine. You're so smooth CP that you'll kick it off in just the right way while Zeke has the middle down pat and I'll come in with the findings and the results. We're going to be just fine."

After a deep breath, Zeke pumped fists with Troy before taking a few steps forward, pausing when his hand was on the door handle. He looked back and watched as Gabriella slowly closed her eyes when Troy placed a tender kiss on the top of her head, wrapping his arm around her before meeting Zeke's gaze. "Ready?"

"Ready," Troy answered, walking with Gabriella by his side into the meeting room, his hand firmly in place on the middle of her back and feeling himself absorb all the silent encouragement she was giving him with every step.

* * *

With everyone's eyes on her, including those of her group members, Gabriella increased her smile by the few degrees she had left before she began the last part of their conclusion. "Based on the feedback we received from at least fifty random attendees to the event last week, which we just presented, we are confident that our business plan will not only be successful but also yield your company a large profit. What was of particular interest was not only how positive the feedback was, but how varied the backgrounds were of the people interviewed that night at Starlight. It is always expected with different demographics that the response would be varied, but it is hard to ignore the fact that ninety-four percent of patrons overwhelmingly expressed that they would visit a club such as the one we created more frequently than they currently were visiting any single club in the area. Thank you for your time and we would be happy to answer any questions you may have."

There was a round of applause from the rest of the students while the professor, his T.A. and another guest professor all sat still, giving nothing away from the front row.

Troy and Zeke soon joined Gabriella just left of the center of the room after Zeke flipped to the last slide they had prepared, all three feeling rather proud of themselves but truthfully, rather anxious. As much confidence as even Gabriella had, having a panel who was pretending to be a team of investors to review the business plan and their proposal was more unnerving than she gave it credit for before.

"Thank you Mr. Bolton, Mr. Baylor, and Ms. Montez. Your financial numbers look to be well thought out if not more on the conservative size. What do you plan on doing first if we invest in your business plan?" Professor Meryl questioned, leaning back in his chair. "You have a large list of enhancements you created on an established club but to build from the bottom up there will need to be priorities."

"Yes sir, you are absolutely right," Troy agreed, taking the lead on the first question. "The most important piece to our business plan is to find the right location. Based on our research we showed briefly…"

As the next ten minutes went by, Gabriella, Troy and Zeke all took turns answering the questions from their professor, Professor Meryl, as well as the T.A. and the guest professor. In the end, once it seemed that all questions had been answered, neither of the trio could really tell how they did.

They didn't have to wait too long though, like the days they thought, as the class was dismissed from their special session when the last group finished their Q&A session. In fact, all three were surprised when they were gathering their things when Professor Meryl approached them.

"Gabriella, Troy, and Zeke, please stay a moment. I'd like to speak with you."

All three nodded in silence as they watched him walk away to confer with the T.A. and other professor while their classmates gave them sympathetic looks before they all exited.

"Shit, did we bomb? Is that what he's going to say?" Zeke asked.

"I hope not. That would totally fucking suck," Troy murmured, keeping his voice low.

Gabriella just shook her head, not even wanting to think of that being the possibility.

After the T.A. and other professor left the meeting room as well, Professor Meryl came back and surveyed the expressions of his three students who all looked nervous to differing degrees. "Okay, you all look like I'm about to tell you that you failed and can't graduate."

Clearing her throat, Gabriella was the first to respond. "We hope that isn't what this is about Professor."

It was then that Gabriella relaxed, seeing the twinkle appear in the eyes of the older man before he smiled and actually chuckled a little, leaning up against a table's edge right behind him. He crossed his arms across his chest and surveyed all three students again. "Is that really what you really are thinking right now? That I'd ask you to stay behind to tell you to your face that you failed?"

"It isn't?" Zeke managed to squeak, blushing as he heard his high pitched voice himself before even seeing the glances Troy and Gabriella gave him.

"Hardly. Trust me, I don't make this offer to just any student either." Professor Meryl was entertained by how stressed and anxious the trio still were for the most part, minus Gabriella who seemed to have understood it wasn't negative feedback they were about to receive. "I'd like to offer you all a spot in my class next semester, your final semester of college as I understand it. It may not be a big deal but I'd like to think the fact that it fills up in less than ten minutes and has a waiting list is a sign that I'm doing something right."

Speechless was a good way of defining all three seniors as they stared back at the professor. "Are you serious sir?" Troy asked, pumped at the offer yet still thinking it was one of those situations where it was too good to be true. "Are we really allowed in?"

"Ah, I see you know all about my consulting class. Yes, you are all allowed in if you would like to take me up on it. I'll speak to the registrar's office and have them make the swap. Unfortunately this does mean you will have to give up one of your other courses you have selected."

"But wouldn't we exceed your cap?" Gabriella questioned, her mind already whirling at the implications of being enrolled in Professor Meryl's class. "Isn't that unfair to you?"

Professor Meryl gave Gabriella a look that told her he had already thought of this. "I appreciate your consideration Ms. Montez, truly. Taking you three on though wouldn't be a hardship though, not if you put as much energy and work into next semester's class as you have this semester with this project. Which, by the way, unofficially you did stellar on. I haven't seen another presentation and project quite like it in my twenty years here, not to the degree of effort you put in at least. So? Would you three like to think about it and let me know?"

Troy, Zeke, and Gabriella all looked at each other, wonderment written on all their faces before they looked back at their professor. Having communicated with each other, albeit silently, Troy answered, "I don't think any of us have to think about this Professor Meryl. This is a fantastic opportunity and a real honor. Thank you, we look forward to being in your class next semester."

"Excellent," Professor Meryl returned, unfolding his arms and extending his arm to shake each of their hands. "What I need then is for you to email me the classes you would each like to drop in exchange. It's an intense class, be warned, but I have no doubt you'll meet the challenge. Information on the times the class meets can be found on the registrar's website so you can take that into consideration. Keep in mind though this is a consulting class and all semester long you will be working with a group of your own choosing consulting a real company. Whether you three stay together or not, it does mean a lot of group meetings and work outside of class but I have this feeling you won't be shying away from that."

Now smiling at each other, Zeke looked away from the other two to smile at Professor Meryl. "I think we're more than up for it and I doubt we'll be tampering with a formula that clearly works for us."

Chuckling, Professor Meryl nodded his head. "Good choice. I look forward to getting that email from you tonight and wish you good luck on the rest of your finals if you have any and on your continued season through Winter Break gentlemen."

The trio expressed their gratitude one last time before watching Professor Meryl pick up his bags and head out the door, the click of the door sounding before all three let out a whoop of joy.

* * *

"Dude, did you know that two seniors got offered jobs even before the school year ended last year?" Zeke threw in, between bites of his lasagna. He was sitting across the table in a booth at a nice but quaint Italian restaurant not too far off campus that all three had never tried before because of the price. Today though was reason for celebration for sure. "Could you imagine having jobs before graduation? Isn't that incredible?"

Gabriella grinned. "Incredible seems too weak of an adjective to describe this opportunity. I never would have dreamed of Professor Meryl offering it like he did! I actually tried to get into his class for next semester but didn't even make it in time for the waitlist as that is capped at fifty."

"Aww, you mean your amazing academic record didn't help get you in on the first try?" Troy teased, wincing as he got an elbow in his side for his effort. "Hey, no abusing your team member!"

"Keep that up and I'm moving to vote you off before next semester even starts," Gabriella countered, playfully glaring at Troy.

Zeke laughed, shaking his head from across the way. "You better watch it Troy. She means business with that look, no matter how adorable it is."

"Hey! Who says I'm adorable?"

"Me," Troy replied before Zeke could have the chance. His eyes met hers as she still mock glared up at him, squishing her lips together in an angry look that just was too tempting for him to resist.

Zeke rolled his eyes and looked away, into the crowded restaurant, as Troy and Gabriella shared a kiss, Gabriella's giggling telling him it was okay to look again, seeing a blush grace her cheeks while Troy gave her a goofy grin. "Maybe I'll vote myself off the team if you two keep this up!"

"Go ahead," Troy countered, "try to find another team half as amazing as me and Gabi together. If you stick around you'll have to get used to this because I have no plans of squashing my passion and love for this woman anytime soon, for anyone."

"Oh, I see how it is! You start getting serious with _my _college best friend and all of a sudden, I, _your_ high school best friend become chopped liver? What the hell?"

"What can I say? Priorities!"

Gabriella let out an exaggerated sigh. "Are we done having a pissing contest yet boys? I'm not some inanimate object to be fought over nor do I ever want to come between you two again. I'll just remove myself from the group. Problem solved!"

"Hell no!" Zeke exclaimed. "You are not leaving me here with him!"

"Like I'd want to be anywhere where you aren't Angel!" Troy reached out a hand and brushed some loose strands of Gabriella's ponytail behind her ear. "Besides, I need to follow the brains of the group."

"Hey!" Zeke protested.

"Typical male behavior," Gabriella grumbled despite the warm feelings she got from Troy's affection he was currently showing her. "You both aren't going anywhere, I'm not going anywhere, we'll be stuck together for at least another four and a half months or so. Happy?"

"Very," Troy huskily replied, leaning forward only to stop when a straw cover hit him on the side of his face. "Yo, you are so going to pay for that Baylor!"

Zeke just cheekily grinned back at him. "Just wanted to remind you before you tried to climb on top of my best friend in front of me, in a public restaurant, that you do have an unwilling audience. You're making me wish for the days when you hated each other's guts!"

"Sorry Zeke," Gabriella apologized.

Troy though wasn't about to let high school best friend get away that easily. "Like you and Sharpay don't make a spectacle of yourselves when you're together? I can't even count the number of times I've walked in on you two doing something so not for public view on my ten fingers! And since when did you start sounding like Chad?"

"When I realized he was right," Zeke answered, eating more of his lasagna while Gabriella ate her spinach tortellini. "Don't get me wrong, you two are great together, truly. It's just, unless Sharpay is here can you not be quite so into each other on the Troy and Gabriella deserted island? I hate being a third wheel."

Before Troy could protest, Gabriella popped a few pieces of her tortellini into Troy's mouth with her fork before giving Zeke a smile. "More than understood. We don't really go at it anyway."

"Yet," Troy coughed after swallowing the tortellini and then swirling some of his spaghetti around his own fork and eating that next.

"I so don't want to hear this," Zeke mumbled, chuckling though when he saw the roll of the eyes Gabriella gave Troy. "Not the truth huh? My boy is a liar?"

"Not so much a liar as an exaggerator of the truth at this point in time," Gabriella replied, taking a sip from her water goblet. "Right Troy?"

"A guy can dream can't he?" Troy smiled at Gabriella, entertained at the way she shook her head at him yet again. "Anyway, back to the academic track of our conversation since Zeke is derailing other tracks. We still want to stay together as a group, in all seriousness, right?"

Both Zeke and Gabriella nodded. "What classes are you two going to give up?"

Gabriella thought about it, taking another bite of her tortellini. "I was thinking Zeke about our business law class. Thing is that's also really important."

"True, I didn't even think about that. It has to probably be a business related course too huh, to meet graduation requirements? Guess that leaves Business Ethics 303?"

"Yup."

Troy sat there as he listened to Zeke and Gabriella talk about each other's schedules, sitting back and crossing his arms as he realized that they had almost all their classes together. "Wait a second, you two planned your classes together?"

"Well except one," Gabriella admitted. "I couldn't get Zeke to take Women's Literature with me."

"I wonder why," Zeke answered back a bit sarcastically. "It's not like that's a huge deal anyway cause Ms. Brainiac over here only has three courses next semester. Makes eliminating her class easy if it isn't her liberal arts class or business law."

"How come I wasn't included?" Troy hated looking like a brat but he knew he was actually hurt that they hadn't thought to include him.

Gabriella and Zeke exchanged a look before Gabriella wisely decided to be the one to answer. "Well, in all honesty, Zeke and I did all this a few weeks ago when the three of us weren't doing so hot beyond working on the project."

"So you were trying to avoid me?"

"No, we just didn't include you because we didn't even know how the rest of the semester was going to turn out, honest Troy. I mean, if we were trying to avoid you all together we would have had Chad tell us what courses you were going to pick and done it based on that alone," Zeke added, not wanting Troy to get the wrong picture just as Gabriella didn't. "Don't be pissed dude. It wasn't malicious."

Swallowing the slight hurt that still lingered, Troy nodded his head, thinking of his own schedule before a smile broke out onto his face. "Wait, business law with Professor Snape?"

Gabriella almost spit out her water. "Excuse me? Professor Snape? There's such a professor on campus?"

Troy chuckled, his eyes twinkling again as he saw Gabriella dab at her chin and mouth with the cloth napkin that was on her lap. "No, but he sure looks like him. I heard he's a hard ass but that he's really good. Professor Smithe I believe."

"The 8 AM class on Mondays and Wednesdays?" Zeke asked, having a feeling it was already by the slight quirk Troy's mouth got just then.

"It's like you read my mind. Guess we will have two classes together after all. Not too bad for not planning with you two," Troy stated, grinning at them both. "You will let me into your little club won't you? After all, I did bring some brilliant ideas to our group project and can guarantee I'm good for at least one more before the academic year is out."

"Well gee, with an offer like that how could we refuse?" Gabriella answered, squirming away from Troy as she felt his fingers tickle her side a little. "Hey, no fair!"

"You know the price to make me stop…"

"But Troy!" Troy increased the speed of his fingers tickling Gabriella's side more until she leaned forward and placed a loving kiss on Troy's lips before she pulled away still giggling a little despite Troy having stopped his torture. "Blackmail, I swear!"

"Works well enough for me."

"Heaven help me," Zeke murmured, sipping his wine but really enjoying seeing how delighted and happy both Gabriella and Troy were, more than evident in the way they beamed at each other as they were now. "So Gabs, you sticking around for some games or are you heading home right away?"

Gabriella tore her gaze away from those entrancing cerulean eyes and looked at Zeke, seeing his amused expression that told her she would be teased for all this couple behavior with Troy later. "I'm booked on a flight tomorrow actually. I need to get home and help my sister with the coffee shop again."

"But Angel, you promised you'd be at every game!" Troy argued. "How am I going to win any game without you there?"

"You'll have me there in spirit. Besides, your actual teammates, one of whom is sitting at this very table with us, is a lot more crucial to you winning a game than me. You don't want to piss off my sister at the start of Winter Break when she's short staffed do you? You so are not going to get quality protein shakes that way."

"But you're my good luck charm!" he pouted, sticking his lower lip out for effect.

"Well then, when you put it that way, let me just call Daniella and explain to her that I can't help her in her hour of need because some guy I'm seeing is being selfish and…"

Troy watched as Gabriella reached into her purse to grab her cell phone and realized that there was a good chance she was actually being serious. Although Troy wanted Gabriella there, he also remembered all the help Daniella had been and knowing it would hurt his cause a lot to piss her off now. He placed his hand over Gabriella's, stilling it, seeing the questioning look she gave him. "Let's not be too hasty. I think I can survive without you for some games after all. Zeke can distract me, right man?"

"Sure, whatever you need to get through the game," Zeke replied, amused at how quickly the banter turned. "Even if I have to hold your hand to get you through it all."

Troy glared at Zeke before looking back at Gabriella. "Can I come visit you at least at the coffee shop for the few days we'll be home? Will it be open?"

"Christmas Eve we're open until noon because of baskets and stuff people order and we're closed on Christmas Day and New Year's Day but I'll be there every other day, no doubt about it. You better come too mister, you too Zeke."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. Those cupcakes your sister makes are amazing. Can you convince her to give it to me as a Christmas gift this year?" Zeke begged. "Please?"

Gabriella laughed. "Maybe, we'll see. Sounds like you two are going to be pretty busy during break."

"Typical of a college basketball team."

"That it is," Troy agreed.

The conversation settled into a comfortable pace while the trio finished their dinner, splitting the check three ways until Troy decided to pay for Gabriella, not allowing her to pay her portion. After dropping Zeke off at the Kappa Phi Sigma house to spend time with Sharpay before she too left the next day with Gabriella, Troy drove Gabriella home and made sure to walk her up to the porch.

When Troy seemed to linger there on the porch after they shared another heated kiss, Gabriella gave him a questioning look. "What is it?"

"I just, with you leaving tomorrow and me hardly having any time in Albuquerque for the next month, would it be okay if I come in?"

Troy's sudden uncertainty and shyness made Gabriella smile, finding it much more charming than his slick, suave side. "I want to spend as much time as I can with you too CP."

Grinning, Troy followed Gabriella inside, closing the door behind him and following her into the living room where they dropped onto the couch, immediately cuddling, and turning on the television.

As it turned out, the television only served as a focal point and as background noise as Troy and Gabriella spent most of the rest of the night talking, teasing each other, and getting in more than their quota of each other.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

For a long time, Gabriella believed that the invention of airplanes was one of the greatest of modern times. The ability to go quickly from point A to point B was such a great luxury, one Gabriella especially enjoyed since she was often able to fly back and forth between home and school. However, sitting in a plane with Sharpay Evans next to her, thousands of feet above ground with nowhere to go, Gabriella realized just how much she hated airplanes.

Since the moment she had sat down in her seat in the middle row with Taylor to her left and Sharpay and Ryan to her right, Gabriella hadn't experienced a moment of peace. Well okay, there was a moment, when the pilot came over the speakers to talk about the upcoming flight. But the second he was done, Gabriella could feel Sharpay's eyes burning holes into her and they hadn't stopped since.

"So, Gabi," Sharpay began, the tone of her voice making Gabriella roll her eyes. "What is this I hear from Zeke about you and Troy last night? Alone at the house I hear?" Sharpay questioned further, raising her eyebrows at Gabriella.

Gabriella blushed at the underlying implications in Sharpay's questions. "Nothing happened Shar. We just wanted to spend some time together before break."

"Awww," Taylor cooed causing Gabriella's blush to deepen.

"Oh come on Gabs! You can tell us the truth," Sharpay pushed. "What did you guys do?"

"We just watched TV."

"Ha! Just watched TV," Sharpay mocked, repeating the phrase slowly with an incredulous tone. "You mean to tell me that you guys sat side by side on the couch and just watched TV? I don't buy it. Not one bit. There had to be at least some cuddling. God knows that boy can't keep his hands off of you."

Gabriella blushed, recalling the previous night and remembering how it felt to be in Troy's arms for those few hours.

"See? I knew it! Your blush says it all!"

"Shar, leave her alone. Not everyone is like you and Zeke," Taylor teased, earning a glare from Sharpay.

"We're not that bad," Sharpay defended.

"Oh please, we all know you two go at it like rabbits."

"Well that's my cue," Ryan let out a groan, reaching for his earbuds in his bag.

Gabriella leaned forward, looking at Ryan with an apologetic look and giggling at his dramatic roll of the eyes before grabbing her own iPod and settling back in her seat with it. "Not a bad idea."

"Oh no you don't," Sharpay scolded, trying in vain to reach over and snag the earbuds out of Gabriella's ears. "We're not done talking yet missy."

"I say we are," Gabriella responded, sticking out her tongue. "And I think Ryan agrees," Gabriella added with a nod towards Ryan.

"Mark my words, we will talk about this later." Sharpay rolled her eyes at Gabriella's smug grin before elbowing her brother next to her. "Wimp."

* * *

Gabriella pushed open the door to her sister's coffee shop early Saturday morning long before the sun rose. Walking down the streets of Albuquerque, with the cool morning air blowing on her face, Gabriella had wondered why she ever agreed to get up at such an hour. But the moment she pushed open the doors and was met with the scent of coffee, chocolate chip muffins, and pine from the Christmas tree next to the door, Gabriella's mood immediately brightened.

Christmas time was her favorite of the year. She absolutely loved decorations, and since she had arrived home the day before, she couldn't wait for her other sister, Samantha, to come home so that she could go with her family to pick out a Christmas tree and decorate their home. But Daniella had decorated her shop weeks before and Gabriella couldn't help but smile at the decorations that adorned the small place.

Gabriella walked further into the shop, hanging her coat up on the rack just as Daniella walked out of the back office.

"Hey! Good morning!" Daniella cheerily greeted, pulling two mugs out of the cupboard and filling them with fresh coffee before handing one to Gabriella.

"Thank you," Gabriella sighed, eagerly taking the cup and taking a sip, feeling herself awaken immediately. "And good morning, although it is a little too early to be good, don't you think?" Gabriella teased, earning a giggle from her sister.

"I'm used to it, but I know I'm cruel to make you get up this early on your first day of break. I really appreciate it though Gabi."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just teasing you," Gabriella assured her with a wave of the hand. "Who needs sleep anyways right?"

"You mean to tell me you aren't obsessing over your beauty sleep for Troy?" Daniella pushed, Gabriella choosing to escape the curious look from her sister and instead glance at her feet to hide her growing blush. "How are things with him?"

Opting to take a sip of coffee and postpone her response, Gabriella's eyes glanced up to the clock as she got a gleam in her eyes. "Would you look at that? It's time to open the doors!"

Ignoring her sister's surprised look at being shut down, Gabriella set her coffee down and hurried towards the front doors. "Don't think we're done talking about this young lady!" Daniella playfully threatened.

"There's nothing to talk about!" Gabriella insisted as she unlocked the doors and flipped around the open sign on the door, trying to play innocent. Daniella though was able to see right through her sister's attempts to derail her questioning.

"Nothing to talk about?" Daniella guffawed, rolling her eyes at Gabriella. "You and I both know that's false and I will make sure I find out all the details later tonight."

"Okay Daniella," Gabriella patronized, jokingly. "You keep on trying."

"Oh I will! And less you forget, Sam is coming home tonight. There is strength in numbers and you can bet we aren't sleeping tonight until you spill all those details."

"What makes you think there are details?"

"Well first, you may think you can lie to me but I see through that façade of yours. And second, I knew when you went back to school after Thanksgiving that when you came back for Christmas, you two would be much closer. From what I saw, he is completely smitten with you and you can only resist that guy's charm for so long. And I know you are smitten with him as well."

Gabriella's eyes widened at her sister's dead-on assessment of the situation but chose to play it off instead of admitting the truth. "I am not completely smitten."

"Keep telling yourself that Gabi," Daniella laughed, patting her sister's head before stepping behind the cash register as the first customer trudged into the shop, both girls dropping the conversation for the moment, but each knowing there was much to talk about later that night.

* * *

Dressed in his black warm ups, with his giant duffle bag slung over his shoulder, Troy exchanged a fist pound with a few teammates before stepping onto the bus around 11:00 on Saturday morning. Since finals had ended the previous day and the away game later that night was an easy one for this team, one would think that Troy would have a relaxed demeanor with his mind clear and focused on the game ahead of him. That was not the case today.

From the moment shoot around began that morning, it was obvious Troy was distracted. It wasn't like he was missing a great deal of shots, but anyone could tell his focus was not there. And for Troy, it wouldn't be there if he kept putting off what he'd been wanting to do for days—talk to Zeke about Gabriella.

Despite things not being completely clear between him and Gabriella, one thing was clear to Troy. He didn't want to mess around anymore. He knew now that his heart belonged to one girl, and he was determined to not let her slip through his grasp again. But before he asked her, he needed to talk to Zeke.

He and Zeke had been so much closer at one point not too long ago. And despite how frustrating it had been at times for Zeke to be so protective of Gabriella, Troy did respect that about Zeke. After all, who could blame a guy for making sure his best friend and someone as incredible as Gabriella was treated the way she deserved to be treated. And now that he knew, he wanted to be that guy and he wanted Zeke to understand that.

With the bus nearly empty, most of the guys still outside making their way towards the bus, Troy took a seat in his usual spot, looking up as he heard Chad and Zeke making their way onto the bus. As expected, Chad took his spot next to Troy while Zeke took his spot in the row across from them next to the window.

"Hey Hoops," Chad greeted with a fist pump.

"Hey," Troy replied less enthused, still deep in thought about what he had to do.

"Come on Hoops!" Chad nudged Troy with his elbow, trying to get him to show some enthusiasm. "It's Saturday! Finals are over and Christmas is right around the corner! No school for three weeks man! Why aren't you more excited?"

"Sorry man," Troy apologized, rubbing his forehead with his hand. "I've just got something else on my mind right now."

"Something or someone?" Chad asked knowingly. "Missing your girl, huh?"

"She's not my girl," Troy admitted, pausing for a moment before muttering a 'yet' under his breath.

"Man up dude! You better ask her before it's too late."

"I know," Troy whispered, glad Zeke had his iPod on and wasn't paying attention to their conversation at the moment.

"Well, what are you waiting for then? A sign from heaven? A divine revelation?"

"I don't want to do anything until I make sure things are okay with Zeke," Troy answered, shaking his head at his friend, not as amused as Chad was with his own quips.

"Again, what are you waiting for? Snap out of it man!" Chad ordered, punctuating his statement with a slap to the back of Troy's head.

"Dude, what the hell?" Troy asked, whipping his head around.

"Well at least that got your attention," Chad chuckled.

"Thanks for caring," Troy muttered sarcastically.

Chad grinned widely. "Anytime man. Now go," Chad told him, shoving his shoulder, nearly causing Troy to fall out of his seat.

Glancing to his right, Troy noticed that Jason had taken the spot next to Zeke. Looking at the time, Troy realized that he still had a few more minutes before the bus would take off and decided that he might as well get things over with.

"Hey J," Troy leaned across the aisle, tapping Jason on his shoulder and getting Troy's attention. "Can I switch seats with you for a second? I need to talk with Zeke."

"Sure thing," Jason agreed, getting up and letting Troy take his spot before sitting down next to Chad.

Seeing Troy sit down next to him, Zeke pulled his iPod out of his pocket, turning it off and taking out his headphones before glancing at Troy. "Hey Troy."

"Hey Zeke, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure dude. Everything okay? It seemed like something was bugging you earlier at the shoot around."

Troy shook his head. "I have had a lot on my mind the last couple of days."

"What's up?"

Troy paused, trying to formulate what he wanted to say.

"Dude, get it over with! It's not like you're asking for his daughter's hand in marriage!"

Troy rolled his eyes before glaring at Chad to his left who was busy snickering with Jason, both of them enjoying how nervous Troy was getting.

"Alright! Shut it Chad," Troy told him before turning back to Zeke. "I have been thinking of asking Gabriella out and I wanted to make sure you were okay with this before I went through with it."

"So you're saying that you want to make things official with her?"

"Yeah," Troy answered, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. "Look, I know that you've been okay with the two of us dating recently, but I wanted to make sure that you were okay with us being official. I know things just started to get better between her and me, but we were headed this way before I screwed up last time. As her best friend and as one of mine, I wanted to check and make sure that I had your approval."

"Listen man," Zeke interrupted him. "You love her right?"

"Of course," Troy answered without any hesitation.

"Well then there is no reason to put this off any longer. I know that you have changed over this semester and that you're not the same guy you were in the past few years. I can tell that you care a lot about her and are just as protective of her now as I am. Plus, I know she cares a lot about you too. So of course, I'm not going to stand in the way. I think she's getting what she deserves, which is a great guy who is going to look out for her. So don't hurt her by putting the inevitable off any longer, alright?" Zeke finished with a smile, patting Troy on the shoulder.

"Thanks man, I won't," Troy assured him, feeling like a weight was lifted off his chest as he smiled brightly.

"Aww, wasn't that such a sweet moment?"

Zeke and Troy both turned to glare at Jason who was now standing beside them.

"Alright, get up Bolton, you're in my spot."

Troy nodded, getting up out of the seat and taking his spot next to Chad again, ignoring the fact that Chad was staring at him with a taunting smile. "Dude, that was just asking her best friend for approval, and you were as nervous as I've ever seen you. How are you going to handle asking her out?"

"I'm not worried about that. I've had it planned for awhile now," Troy admitted.

"Look at you," Chad laughed. "All it took was one girl to turn you into a complete sap."

"You know, Gabriella and Taylor are pretty close, and Gabi talks. I've heard some stories about you, so I know I'm not the only sap here."

"I am not as bad as you," Chad defended.

"Keep telling yourself that man," Troy laughed, putting in his own earbuds and turning on his usual pre-game playlist, a smile on his face. He could focus more now. He was one step closer to making Gabriella his, and nothing else could have possibly brightened his day like that thought did.

* * *

"I'm home!" Gabriella called out as she pushed open the front door, hanging up her jacket and setting her keys on the table before dropping some shopping bags onto the floor and making her way to the kitchen where she heard voices. After her shift at work, she'd spent a few hours at the mall picking up some gifts for her family and for her friends, including Troy.

Walking into the kitchen, she was met with the smell of freshly baked cookies, but the excited squeal that escaped her mouth was not due to that but rather due to seeing Samantha at the opposite side of the kitchen leaning against the counter.

Gabriella quickly crossed the room, wrapping her sister in a hug. "I've missed you!"

"I've missed you too Gabs. Where have you been?"

"Just doing some shopping. What have you been up to?"

"Just catching up with the latest gossip from Mom and Daniella," Samantha told her, gesturing to the other two women in the room. "So shopping huh? Did you get me a gift?"

"Nice try, but I won't be telling you that."

"Fine," Samantha sighed in defeat. "Did you get your guy a gift? What's his name? Troy?"

"Yes, it's Troy, and no, I'm not telling you that either."

"You're no fun," Samantha told her with a pout, causing Gabriella to giggle. "It's okay though, Mom and Daniella have been catching me up on everything, including Troy."

"Oh geez," Gabriella rolled her eyes.

"He seems like quite the catch. Good job little sis!" Samantha told her, swinging her arm around her shoulders and giving her a hug. "When will I get to meet this guy? He's going to be around for the break right?"

"Probably," Gabriella admitted reluctantly, wincing when Samantha squealed.

"I can't wait to see my little sister all love struck around some guy."

"I do not act love struck," Gabriella argued.

"Oh, she definitely does," Daniella piped up, earning a glare from Gabriella. "You're going to die when you see the two of them, Sam. They really are so adorable, and he is such a charmer."

"Daniella!"

"What?" She shrugged innocently. "I told you this morning that you wouldn't get out of this. Now come on, take a seat and tell us how things are between the two of you."

Gabriella hesitated, looking at the floor and trying to quickly come up with some escape plan.

"Come on Gabi," Samantha begged, grabbing her arm and tugging her towards the table. "We all have to go through this at some point."

"Yeah, and we have cookies," Daniella added temptingly. "How can you resist Mom's homemade sugar cookies?"

Gabriella sighed before pulling out a chair and plopping down at the table next to them, much to her sisters' delight. "Alright, but only because I want some of those cookies."

"I knew we could suck you in this way. I told you the cookies would work Mom," Samantha smiled at their mom, who just smiled at her before standing up from the table.

"Okay girls, I have to go run some errands real quick, but I'll be back later this evening when your dad is home so we can go get a tree. Don't be too tough on your little sister," Theresa warned.

"Now why would you accuse us of that?" Daniella asked innocently.

"Nice try with the innocent act but Mom knows you two better than you think," Gabriella told them, pausing before grinning at their mom. "You need any help with those errands Mom?"

"Ah-ah, not so fast Gabi," Samantha said, reaching up to grab Gabriella's arm when she tried to stand up. "We're having sister bonding time and your presence is required. And remember? Cookies," Samantha added temptingly, waving the plate in front of Gabriella. "Besides, if you leave now, it will just get worse. We'll ask all of these embarrassing questions in front of your guy."

"Fine," Gabriella groaned, succumbing to their requests as she grabbed a cookie.

Theresa just laughed at her daughters' antics, kissing each of them on top of their heads. "I'll leave you girls to your girl talk. Have fun!"

Samantha and Daniella immediately whipped their heads around to face Gabriella the second their mom had left. "Okay, spill!"

Gabriella raised her eyebrows at their excitement. "About what? There's not much to tell!"

"Sure there is! Have you guys talked?"

"Has he taken you out on any dates?"

"Where'd you go? When was it?"

"Did he kiss you?"

"Has he asked you out yet?"

"Do you have a picture of him?"

Gabriella's eyes shifted quickly back and forth between her sisters as they each quickly fired off question after question, finally landing on Samantha.

"A picture?"

"Yeah, I want to see what this guy looks like. Tell me about him."

"What do you want to know?" Gabriella asked, very much overwhelmed by her sisters' intense curiosities.

"How tall is he? Body type? Color of hair? Color of eyes? Is he hot?"

Gabriella blushed at the last question, her reaction being all Samantha needed to know.

"So he is! That's what Daniella said."

"Daniella!" Gabriella exclaimed, surprised that she would say that.

Daniella just grinned at her. "He may be too young for me, but I will not deny that he is extremely good looking."

"Come on, come on! I want to know more Gabi!" Samantha begged. "If you tell me more details, I'll tell you something about me and Thomas."

"What?!" Daniella whipped her head towards her other sister, the attention off of Gabriella for the moment. "You have secrets and you haven't even mentioned it yet?"

"Well no, I was waiting for everyone to be together, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and I really need info out of 'Miss Closed Book' here."

"Gabriella?" Daniella called her name expectantly, giving her a look that said 'what are you waiting for?'

"Fine, tell your news first, and then I'll tell you what you want to know."

Samantha brought her hand up to her chin, stroking it lightly as she pretended to think before smiling from ear to ear. "Deal! You guys ready?"

"YES!" Daniella and Gabriella chorused impatiently.

"Okay, geez," Samantha sighed, holding her hands up in defense. "Thomas and I are engaged!"

The three girls immediately squealed, all of them jumping up from the table to engage in a group hug.

"You're engaged?!" Gabriella asked as they pulled apart, their arms still around each other. "I can't believe it! I'm so happy for you Sam."

"Me too!" Daniella agreed, her smile fading slightly while she got a curious look on her face, reaching down to pick up Samantha's left hand. "Where's the ring!?"

Samantha just smiled sheepishly, reaching into her pocket and holding a ring out in front of them. Daniella immediately squealed, taking Samantha's hand in hers and pulling it closer. "It's so beautiful Sam! Good job Thomas! I approve."

Samantha just smiled before slipping the ring back into her pocket. "Thanks guys, but you can't tell Mom and Dad yet, okay? We wanted to tell them together when Thomas is here."

The two sisters both promised, the three of them sitting back down before Samantha turned to look at Gabriella expectantly. "Alright little sister, I have spilled my news, so now it is your turn. Don't make me wait any longer…"

"What do you want to know?"

"What does he look like? Hair color? Is he short, tall, fat, what?"

"He's about a head taller than me…he plays basketball, so he's athletic looking, and he has shaggy brown hair, and really blue eyes."

"Awww," Samantha cooed. "Is that your favorite feature about him?"

"I guess?" Gabriella said, with a bit of uncertainty in her voice. "I mean, he is really handsome and his eyes are beautiful, but I guess lately my favorite thing about him is just how sweet he is."

"What has he done?" Daniella immediately chimed in.

"Well, the other day, he showed up on my doorstep in the morning with a bouquet of tulips," Gabriella shared, feeling the butterflies erupt in her stomach at just the memory of that day.

"He brought you tulips?" Daniella asked, beaming at Gabriella who nodded. "I told him those were your favorite flowers!"

"I was wondering how he knew that. What else did you tell him?"

Daniella grinned teasingly while pretending to zip her lips shut. "You'll find out. It was nothing bad," Daniella assured her. "It was just a few little hints to help him when he tried to win you over. I didn't know if he'd remember, but obviously he listens and is quite the thoughtful guy."

"Yeah, he is," Gabriella admitted, suddenly missing him. She knew he had a game that night and wouldn't be home for a couple of days, but she couldn't wait to spend more time with him over break. All this talk was making her miss him that much more.

"So has he asked you out yet?"

Gabriella shook her head at Samantha. "No, we've been out on a few dates, but that is all. We are taking things slow right now, especially after what happened the first time."

"But if he asked you to be his girlfriend, you'd say yes, right?"

It wasn't like the thought hadn't crossed Gabriella's mind, especially in the previous few days. In fact, she'd thought about it quite a bit. And the moment she heard the question, she didn't even have to think about it. She'd known her answer days ago.

"Yeah, I would."


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Daniella and Gabriella both giggled at the sight of Thomas and Samantha curled up together on one of the couches in the coffee shop, both actually not all that busy thanks to it being Christmas Eve. The three sisters were the only ones working the shift as Daniella gave everyone else the time off. If it wasn't for the huge gift basket business of freshly baked goodies and such, Daniella would have closed up shop all together but those baskets always seemed to bring in quite a bit of profit.

For that reason, Gabriella had once again been up before the sun, groaning all the way there but in a moment like this, seeing their sister curled up with her fiancé, made it well worth it. In fact, it made Gabriella miss Troy just a bit more, wondering if he was home yet. She had spoken to him twice since she left to go back home because of his busy game schedule but hadn't gotten a clue as to when he was really coming back to Albuquerque.

Her eyes darted over to the box she had wrapped and brought to work with her just in case she did see him. If not, she'd planned on texting Zeke to find out Troy's address to drop it off, even if he wasn't there so he'd have it Christmas morning.

Daniella caught Gabriella's glance and grinned. "You do realize it is Christmas Eve. I don't know if that boy is really going to come in for his protein shake but I bet you're hoping with all your might that you get to see him."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella returned her sister's look. "I thought you thought so highly of Troy."

"I do, why?"

"You seem to have little faith in the fact that he'd want to see me dear sister," Gabriella pointed out. "Although, granted, his father sounds a bit controlling."

"That's what I was thinking of when I said what I did. Oh, trust me, I know that guy has it bad for you, really bad. If he doesn't show, you should invite him to our home for at least a little bit. There's something romantic about the holidays Gabi."

Gabriella looked again at Samantha and Thomas and sighed. "You know, I have to agree. Look at Sam. She and Thomas were apart for less than a week yet as soon as we picked him up from the airport yesterday, they've been like that nonstop."

"Hmm, maybe I don't want Troy coming. It will make me a sad fifth wheel," Daniella half joked. She was undoubtedly happy for her sisters but during times like these, she did sometimes feel out of place. There had been dates in her recent past, but after everything in her teen years and younger twenties, Daniella wasn't in a rush to get involved really. Just moments like these, well, they sucked.

Almost sensing Daniella's shift in mood, Gabriella wrapped her arm around Daniella's waist and leaned her head on her sister's shoulder. "You'll never be a sad fifth wheel so long as Sam and I both are around. Maybe a fifth wheel, but a happy one."

Laughing, Daniella shook her head before placing her head on top of her little sister's. "You really are too adorable sometimes lil sis. I guess we better prepare the last batch of gift baskets. They should be here to pick them up in about thirty minutes and then we can close probably within the hour from then. Deal?"

"Deal," Gabriella replied, finding herself smiling as she and Daniella got to work arranging all the baked goods they had made that morning in the last group of baskets. Samantha even drew herself away from Thomas long enough to help, leaving him to pop in a few Christmas CDs and blast it through the coffee shop, adding even more festive spirit to the group.

By the time they were done, all three sisters were laughing and singing along to the Christmas carols while Thomas enjoyed watching them, secretly taking some pictures and video clips of them. He knew that Samantha was close to her sisters but he had never seen her glow in this way before. Sure, he'd like to think he made his fiancé as happy as possible but also knew that there was no other bond like a bond between siblings. At least, that's what he imagined since he was an only child and adopted at that.

While Gabriella was busy doing a little dance with Daniella that they had learned when they were kids, Samantha stopped dancing as she saw a guy with chestnut colored hair in a shaggy cut walk into the coffee shop, immediately thinking of how hot he was but then realizing she was more than likely checking out her little sister's guy. Part of her wanted to rush over to meet him but the larger part of her was amused by the smirk on Troy's face as he continued towards her two sisters who were too busy dancing to see his approach.

On Troy's part, he found it adorable the way Gabriella cut loose with her sisters, finding her dance rather simple yet sexy. 'Somehow I'm not all that surprised though. She could make a paper bag and the running man look sexy,' he thought, putting down the gift bag in his right hand on the couch nearby before sitting down on the arm of it, glancing at the man and woman he had never seen before and smiling back at them. Quickly though he turned his attention back on Gabriella and Daniella, catching the end when they twirled and struck a pose, only for Gabriella to instantly brighten more as her eyes caught Troy's.

"Oh my God, Troy!" Gabriella exclaimed, her cheeks flaming as she realized he had seen that whole dance or most of it by the amused look on his face. "When did you get here?"

"Just in time it would seem. It's been practically a week since I last saw you. Where's my greeting?" Troy teased, well half teased, as he was just as anxious to hold her again.

Pointedly ignoring the looks she knew Daniella and Samantha were giving her, Gabriella crossed the space separating her from Troy and wrapped her arms around his waist as she felt his muscular arms fold around her shoulder and mid-back, bringing Gabriella closer to him. Feeling more than happy to be back in his familiar embrace, Gabriella allowed herself to close her eyes and breathe in his distinct scent, smiling as she felt his lips kiss her forehead and then her hair. "I missed you Troy."

Hearing her words warmed Troy instantly from the chill outside, making him grin just that much more. "I missed you too Gabriella. So much in fact that I couldn't wait to get here before you closed to make sure I saw you since I haven't a clue where you live."

"We can fix that for you," Daniella offered, a cheeky grin on her face.

For the first time since they embraced, both Troy and Gabriella looked up and smiled at Gabriella's sisters and Thomas. "Oh yeah? Draw me a map on a napkin?"

Daniella rolled her eyes. "Honestly, you're such a dork sometimes. I was going to invite you over but if you just want a paper napkin…"

"No, no! Invitation to your home is amazing, thanks!" Troy exclaimed, a grin on his face before he looked back down at Gabriella. "That is, if it's okay with you. I don't want to rush meeting your parents or anything."

Touched that Troy was thoughtful of her own feelings, Gabriella gave him a sweet smile. "I think it'll be nice to introduce you. Are you sure it's okay though with your parents? It's Christmas Eve Troy."

"I know but they'll be fine. We don't have family over until much later."

"Then I'd love for you to come over," Gabriella answered, turning her head as she heard discreet cough nearby, seeing her sister and Thomas both looking at them. Flushing once again at her lack of manners this time, Gabriella looked back up at Troy. "And Troy, I'd like you to meet my sister Samantha and her fiancé on the down low, Thomas."

Troy looked up and saw the smiling faces while he unwrapped one of his arms from around Gabriella and reached out to shake Samantha's hand first and then Thomas' hand. "It's nice to finally meet you Samantha. Gabriella speaks nothing but wonderful things of you and Daniella both. I didn't realize though that you were engaged, congratulations!"

"Thanks Troy! We actually haven't officially announced it so we'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything when we get to our home, especially to my parents," Samantha replied. "I have to say that I'm awfully impressed that my sister didn't lie. She said you were totally hot in addition to being smart and sweet but I half thought she was making all that up."

"Hey!" Gabriella protested, sticking out her tongue at her sister.

Chuckling, Thomas shook his head. "Oh the joys of the holidays and having family around. It's nice to have another guy around here though. I was feeling very outnumbered."

Troy grinned at the older man. "Well I'm glad I could be of service somehow. So I guess I don't have to rush giving you your present yet then," Troy commented, chuckling as he saw Gabriella's pout. "Can I get that amazing shake you always make me or is it time to close up shop?"

"There's still time. One last round of baskets to be picked up actually. I'll put it in a to go cup just in case," Gabriella returned. "Come on CP."

As Daniella and Samantha watched Gabriella take Troy's hand in hers and lead him over to the counter where they started making his shake together, they exchanged an excited grin that was not lost on Thomas. "Why do I suddenly feel bad for the youngest Montez sister and her boyfriend?"

Daniella shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. They aren't exclusive yet Thomas."

"Yet," Samantha emphasized, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Why do I have a feeling that Troy is going to get his ass kicked into gear by none other than the Montez older sisters?" Thomas asked. "I kind of feel bad for the guy."

"Oh, don't worry. It's not like we'll be forcing his hand. More like giving him some encouragement in the right direction to do what he's been wanting to do but has been taking way too long to do. Granted, there have been good reasons," Daniella admitted.

"Good reasons?"

Daniella debated on how much to tell her sister and soon to be brother-in-law and opted to give Troy a fairly fresh slate with them. "Let's just say that there were some major communication breakdowns and hurt feelings. This second time around though has been going much better for them. Honestly, Samantha, you know our little Gabriella. She'd never get involved with a guy if she didn't trust him or really love him."

"And he's a first for her isn't he?" Samantha returned. "I am glad, I was beginning to blame myself for that too."

"You and me both. All the more reason to make sure this goes right between them."

Thomas had a hint of what was going on as he and Samantha had discussed her past before and knew that there was heartache in her life and suspected it was the same for Daniella as well from the sounds of it. "Well give the guy some credit. Maybe he's got something planned already. I may not know either of them but there's definitely major chemistry and Troy doesn't seem like the type to not have game."

"Guess we'll just have to see about that…"

Once the baskets were picked up, dishes were all cleaned, and the last of the baked goods of the day were packed to bring to a local homeless shelter, all five made their way out of the coffee shop, Daniella locking up the front door after flipping over the sign in the window to show closed.

It wasn't until after the shelter when they were nearly at the Montez home that Gabriella suddenly got nervous. Giving Troy the gift she had picked out for him wasn't that big of a deal for Gabriella but introducing him to her parents, that was huge.

Troy sensed Gabriella's uneasiness and reached over to squeeze her hand. "You okay?"

As Troy kissed the back of her hand, Gabriella smiled. "I am, don't worry."

"Just because you said so Angel," Troy replied, kissing the top of her head as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"Mom! Dad! We're home and with a special guest!" Daniella called out as soon as she opened the front door. "Mom, Dad!"

"Geez Daniella, you don't have to be quite so loud," Gabriella immediately said, giving Troy an apologetic look before kicking off her shoes.

"But he is a special guest," Daniella argued. "Very special. Mom! Dad!"

Samantha patted Gabriella on the shoulder before she passed her by in the entryway after taking off her shoes. "May as well get this over with lil sis."

"Gee, thanks," Gabriella sarcastically got out. "It's not too late to leave Troy."

Troy shook his head. "Nah, your sister doesn't scare me. You parents have to be amazing too to have raised you as wonderful as you are Gabriella."

"I haven't officially met you Troy but I already can tell why my daughters think so highly of you," Theresa said from where she stood next to her husband, a smile on her face. "Welcome to our home Troy. I'm Theresa and this is my husband Joseph."

Suddenly it was as if all the nerves Gabriella had been feeling transferred over to Troy as he stared into the dark brown eyes of Gabriella's father. He had felt good when he returned Theresa's smile and shook her hand but when he had shaken Joseph's, Troy couldn't help but feel like he was being silently interrogated without Joseph having to say a word. In fact, the nerves Troy had felt in asking Zeke for his permission to be exclusive with Gabriella was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.

"Now, now Daddy," Daniella stated, walking up to the pair and placing a hand on Joseph's shoulder. "Don't go scaring Gabriella's guy off now. It's Christmas Eve after all, not Halloween."

After a moment more of tense silence, Joseph just nodded his head, cracking a small smile. "Merry Christmas Troy."

"Merry Christmas sir," Troy managed to get out.

Gabriella, having felt bad for Troy the instant she saw how tense he had gotten, quickly decided to interrupt. "Mom, Dad, Troy and I are going to go exchange presents if that's okay. Or Mom do you need my help in the kitchen?"

Before Theresa could respond, Samantha decided to interfere. "Daniella and I can help Mom Gabriella, and Thomas has a bunch of questions for Dad too I think, right Thomas?"

Blinking at his sudden involvement but knowing enough to go along, Thomas nodded. "Actually Joseph I was wondering if you'd show me how you put together all the tracks for the trains in your hobby room."

Samantha proudly smiled at Thomas for having such an excellent idea and thanked the stars when their father looked at Troy a moment longer before looking at Thomas and nodding his head. "Let's go take a look."

Theresa too was amused by the swiftness of her children at giving Gabriella and Troy some desired alone time. She was all too willing to follow Daniella and Samantha into the kitchen, knowing already that both of them had no intentions of doing anything other than eavesdrop as Gabriella and Troy sat down in front of the Christmas tree in the living room.

"Sorry about that," Gabriella apologized. "My dad is just protective."

"More than Zeke. I feel blessed now that Zeke was as toned down as he has been," Troy commented. "I can't blame your dad though. If I had a daughter as beautiful and as wonderful as you, I'd feel just as protective."

Gabriella smiled at his compliment, leaning forward to kiss Troy before pulling back. She handed him the wrapped box and said, "Well, after going through that, I think you deserve to have the opportunity to open your gift first. Merry Christmas Troy."

"Thanks Gabriella," Troy answered, taking the present and settling it on his lap. He undid the ribbon and then tore apart the paper, making Gabriella giggle as she watched. When the lid was off and he tore back the tissue paper, Troy smiled as he saw a blue sweater and a green knitted scarf and beanie. When Troy pulled it out and held the sweater up against his upper body, he smirked as he realized that it was just the right size and would also be fitted. "Wanted to see my rippling muscles more huh?"

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella actually laughed. "I wasn't thinking about the fitted part although I was hoping the sweater would be just the right size since I know you don't like to swim in your clothes all that much."

"True," Troy admitted. "So what were you thinking about?"

"How the blue of the sweater would bring out the various hues of blue in your eyes while the green beanie and scarf would bring out the green highlights."

"Green highlights? Are you thinking of some other guy Angel?"

Ignoring Troy's fake pout, Gabriella shook her head. "Clearly you haven't seen your own eyes. They change colors and shades depending on your mood. They are dark blue, light blue, sometimes grey and sometimes they have green highlights. My favorite though is the shade they are right now, the dark blue that shows how intensely you are feeling at the time. What are you thinking?"

"How much I love you," Troy confessed, amazed and touched as to how much thought Gabriella had put into his gift and how much she had noticed about him. "No one has ever told me about the green color in my eyes before or even talked about how my eyes change according to my mood."

"It's one of my favorite physical parts of you." Gabriella readily kissed Troy back before he straightened and put the gifts back in the box. "Your eyes tell me so much, more than words alone can express."

"I'll have to keep that in mind," Troy joked, putting the top back on the box. He turned and snagged the gift bag next to him and placed it in front of her. "Before you open it, I want to say that I love your gift Gabriella but more importantly, I love you."

"I love you too Troy." She smiled as she kissed him on the cheek before starting to take out the tissue paper from the gift bag after quickly reading the note on the tag. When there was only a small white box left at the bottom of the small bag, Gabriella picked it up and gave Troy a curious look, seeing an anxious look on his face. With nerves tingling, Gabriella gingerly opened the box and gasped. "Are you serious?"

Troy nodded, swallowing the knot of nerves gathered in his throat. "I couldn't be more." Seeing that Gabriella was still staring at the necklace, Troy reached over and pulled it out, laying the pendant of the Zeta Theta Mu letters with the president's gavel charm hanging from the bottom on his palm. "I can't give you my pin like they would in the old days of tradition because there would be serious trouble to pay in our chapter, but I wanted to ask you if you'd wear my letters as a symbol of us being committed to each other. The letters show you are a girlfriend of a Zeta Theta Mu brother, but the gavel signifies that he is or was a president. I know you dropped the Greek system all together and have been really happy as a result, but as this gavel has been worn over my heart countless times, will you wear it along with my letters from now on?"

Clearing her throat, Gabriella swore in her head as she had to blink back a few tears that threatened to fall. "This is huge Troy. Are you really sure you want to give these to me? That you want me to be known as your girlfriend?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Troy returned, meaning every single syllable. "Please Gabriella, Angel, will you bless me with the title of being your guy?"

Without another moment of hesitation, Gabriella nodded, instantly swooped up into Troy's embrace as they shared a tight hug, followed by a series of kisses. When they parted for a few moments, Troy quickly slipped the necklace around Gabriella's neck, staring at where it was against the skin of her chest, catching some of the twinkling of the lights from the Christmas tree nearby.

Gabriella too looked down at it and smiled as she continued to absorb the meaning of Troy giving this to her and more importantly, what they just committed to each other. "This is really real huh? You've actually branded me."

Troy had to chuckle at this. "I could brand you in another way if you want," Troy suggested, wiggling his eyebrows that made Gabriella playfully slap him on the shoulder. "I kid, I kid, well sort of. I wouldn't dream of doing that here in your parents' home anyway. It is more of my commitment to you and to also warn off the other guys. Not necessarily the guys who are stupid enough to think that after you've had me that you could want another but the others…"

Ignoring the arrogance Troy just displayed, Gabriella reacted more to the implication he left hanging. "The others like Tyler? You still think he and Nicole could be a problem?"

With a sigh, Troy nodded. "They've been rather quiet but I overheard firsthand at the club that they are still plotting things and are working together. I don't want you worried though because I'll never let something happen to you, girlfriend or not. I love you too much for that."

"I love you too Troy, I really do," Gabriella returned, snuggling closer into his hold and kissing his shoulder before settling her head there, staring at the flickering Christmas tree lights. "I just don't want you getting hurt or in trouble because of their stupid stuff."

"I won't, don't worry," Troy answered, kissing Gabriella on the forehead before leaning his head on hers. "Come on, it's Christmas Eve. Plenty of better things to talk about than the troublemakers at school. Can I tell you that you are the one blessing that happened to me this year that I will be thanking God for tonight at midnight mass? Like putting heaps and heaps of gratitude on in my prayer tonight?"

"What about your family, friends, academic life, or even basketball?"

Troy picked up Gabriella's left hand with his right and ran his thumb over the back of it, feeling the smoothness of her skin. "I'm grateful for all that too, but you are the best thing that could have ever happened to me Gabriella. The boys, I'm always going to be grateful for because they've seen me through a lot, just as my mom has and my dad sort of as well, but you really are the reason I smile when I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning. I hope you realize that."

"Well I do now," Gabriella answered, turning her head to meet Troy's gaze, feeling his left hand gently run his fingers up and down her side. "You mean just as much to me too. I really do hope that you have a nice Christmas with your parents Troy. I know it's been rough."

Glancing away, Troy nodded his head before he looked back at her. "It will be bearable. My dad won't act up in front of family and my mom will keep him at bay if it gets too close to explosion. He's a decent man, just high pressure is all. I don't look forward to the day that I make it clear to him that the NBA isn't my dream career."

Gabriella tore her hand from his to lay it softly on Troy's right cheek, gently turning his head so that he was looking at her again. "If your dad truly loves you, like I'm sure he must, he'll understand Troy. Just like your mom, I'm sure they just want to see you happy."

Not wanting to spoil this Christmas Eve together, their first together per se, Troy just nodded his head, making note to talk to Gabriella more about his past with his father again sometime soon when they returned to school. "You truly take my breath away Gabriella and that is such an amazing thing."

"And you Troy give me all the confidence in the world that I can be and do anything, no matter what people wearing Greek letters may say," Gabriella returned, running her fingers through his chestnut hair. "I love you."

"I love you too."

They shared an intimate kiss that was rudely interrupted by clapping which broke them apart. Gabriella blushed as she saw Samantha, Daniella, and their mother all standing there, Daniella with something behind her back. "Nice, real nice girls. What happened to privacy?"

"You should know, little sis, in this house there is none," Samantha teased, waving a digital camera in the air. "I got some great shots too that you'll thank me for later."

"Not as great as the ones you're about to get though Sam!" Daniella sang as she skipped towards the couple.

Gabriella gave their mom a pleading look but saw Theresa hold her hands up in the air. "I tried to talk them out of this but since you're all adults, grounding and threats of coal in the stockings don't exactly work now, sorry."

"Do I want to know what your sisters have planned?" Troy asked out of the side of his mouth.

"Most likely not," Gabriella returned, wearily eyeing Daniella who stopped short of them and off to the side. "What devious thing is going on in that mind of yours Daniella?"

"Just a reward system. I'm guessing that since you have a nice new pendant around your neck that Troy gave you his gift already. Did he by chance happen to ask you something too or are there plans of it Troy?" Daniella questioned, looking both of them head on. "Hmm?"

Knowing exactly where Daniella was going, Troy nodded his head. "Yes, as I suspect you heard already from eavesdropping, I did ask Gabriella to move our relationship forward into the exclusive territory. Satisfied?"

"Very," Daniella grinned, whipping out her hand behind her back. "And for that, your reward."

Gabriella narrowed her eyes as she focused on the item dangling from Daniella's fingertips. "You've got to be kidding me. Daniella!"

"Hey, Samantha thought of it too. It's our way of celebrating the good news and it is Christmas Eve after all. Tradition Gabriella, you don't want to break it and be a scrooge, do you?"

Sighing, Gabriella glanced up again at the mistletoe that was now dangling above her and Troy before looking back at him. "Troy?"

Deciding to make the best of the situation, despite having to now do it in front of Gabriella's siblings and mother, relieved at least that her father wasn't around, Troy placed both hands on Gabriella's face, kissing her on the forehead as his answer. When Troy heard the disapproving sounds from both sisters, Troy leaned down and slanted his lips over Gabriella's, closing his eyes to block out the flashes of light he knew were coming from the camera.

When they pulled away, both glanced over at Gabriella's siblings to see them now giggling over the pictures Samantha had taken. After hearing Gabriella whisper her gratitude though, Troy looked back down at her. "Why are you thanking me? I'll take any excuse to kiss you."

"Always living up to your nickname CP," Gabriella returned, further snuggling into Troy's hold and hiding her face in his neck as he wrapped his arms around her, both seeing the way Samantha and Daniella were looking at them again.

For her part, Theresa just shook her head as she watched both pairs, happy to see her daughters all together again and clearly enjoying each other's company, even if her youngest was getting picked on. Despite that though, it was clear to Theresa that Gabriella was happy with the man she had finally chosen after all the time of focusing on school and everything else but her romantic life. It all honesty, it had worried Theresa that Gabriella was so adamant about concentrating on everything but a love life. Now though, as she watched her youngest giggle as Troy nuzzled her neck, Theresa began to realize that perhaps it was because Gabriella knew subconsciously that the wait would be worth it. Whatever the reasons though, Theresa was happy in that moment that everything happened as it did because she had never seen her daughter glow, on a Christmas Eve or any other day for that matter, as she was glowing now.


End file.
